



u 
u 



Crossing the 
Connecticut 



An account of the various 
Public Crossings of the Con- 
necticut River at Hartford 
since the earliest times, 
together with a full de- 
scription of 



Hartford Bridge 



Fully illustrated with excellent 
half-tone reproductions 



By GEORGE E. WRIGHT 

Author, Proprietor and Publisher 



HARTFORD, CONN. 

The Smith-Linsley Company 

1908 



LIBHARY of CeNGREfiS 
I wo CoDies rtecwvDC 

SEP 22 iyU8 

0LAS9 <^ AAO< Nu. 

I <g 3 ^S "Si 
' OOPY a. 



Edition Limited to Three Thousand Copies 



No. 



Copyright, 1907 

By George E. Wright 



DEDICATED 

TO THE 

Members of the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District Com- 
mission, comprising eight of our most honorable fellow-citizens, who, in 
their ow^n personalities, individually and collectively, represent and are 
the direct descendants of our oldest colonial families: 

HARTFORD : 
Hon. Morgan G. Bulkeley, President. ^ Hon. John G. Root. 

Hon. Meigs H. Whaples, Treasurer. Hon. Frank C. Sumner. 

EAST HARTFORD : SOUTH WINDSOR: 

Hon. Charles W. Roberts. Hon. Lewis Sperry, Vice-President. 

GLASTONBURY : MANCHESTER : 

Hon. Alembert O. Crosby. Hon. James W. Cheney, Secretary. 



As o'er the bridge of stone we cross the river, 
deep and wide. 

So by the eye of faith we span death's dark 

and sullen tide ; 
And as the bridge in safety brings us to the 

farther shore. 

So faith conducts us to that home where death 
is known no more. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



FRONTISPIECE 



'^^^fci^HE cut of the new bridge and western approach shown in the colored 
■ ^ J frontispiece is a close approximation to the work as it will appear 
^^^^^ when completed. The tunneling or covering of the railroad tracks 
for a short distance north and south of the west end of the bridge is a recent 
change in the plans, to protect the structure from the blighting effects of smoke 
from locomotives. The draw indicated in the picture has been left there to 
show the original design that was adopted, and to show also why the western 
anchor pier was placed where it is, when it should have been the third pier 
from the west end, to correspond with its companion — the third pier from 
the east end, as the first plans show. This double or "anchor" pier was trans- 
ferred to the west end of the bridge in order to more solidly abut and support 
the east end of the draw; and when permission was finally obtained from the 
United States Government to build the bridge without a draw, the work had 
so far proceeded that this double pier could not be transferred back again to 
its originally designed location. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




/. 




'\y^ 



^-^7^-7 



Governor of the State of Connecticut, 1907-1909 




CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

*^^^^-^HE first acknowledgment on the part of the author of this work 
■ ^ J is, that for some unaccountable reason the Hartford Bridge, and the 
^^^^X various bridges and ferries that have preceded it on the same site, 
have constituted a "hobby," from which he has in the past derived much pleasure 
and satisfaction in gathering such facts and data, and in collecting such illustra- 
tions, bearing upon the subject, as he was fortunate enough to discover; and 
so, for many years, without any idea of what was to be finally accomplished on 
the site, he has been unconsciously placing himself in a position whereby he is 
now able to offer to the public the result of his labors. And this he does 
with the hope that its faults and shortcomings may be at least modified by 
the knowledge on the part of the reader of the many difficulties to be encoun- 
tered in the prosecution of such a task. 

In the preparation of the work, however, his lines seem to have fallen in 
pleasant places ; for he has been assisted in many ways not expected or antici- 
pated when the work was begun. And now, as it goes forth to meet the 
test of criticism or appreciation, he wishes to express his thankfulness and 
gratitude to all who have, by encouraging words, and often by more material 
aid, contributed to its publication. And especially to his fellow-craftsmen of 
the "art preservative," who have, because of their confidence in him, and their 
sincere interest in the work, rendered such vital aid, does he turn with grateful- 
ness, and the hope that the results of its issue will confirm the anticipations that 
have been entertamed. 

To the subscribers, also, by whose patronage alone the venture must 
stand or fall, is extended the heartiest thanks. And that the work may satis- 
factorily meet their expectations, is the supreme wish of 

The Author. 




o 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




The Giant Hojae.— Oldect House \<\ Soutl-i Windsor.— The 
"ell" part is the most ancient. 

INTRODUCTION 



'^^^-^HE following work is intended to be a memorial to Hartford Bridge, 
■ j and to those most closely identified with its construction by carrying 

^^^^r out the wishes of the people comprising the Bridge District. To 
those gentlemen honor is due ; and to put into an enduring and attractive form 
that tribute from their constituents which they have fairly won, is the object of 
this work. In attempting to do this, the author feels that a generally favorable 
reception of it by the public (if that is to be its good fortune) will be a sanction 
of the effort. 

The central and special subject, as mentioned above, is our new bridge, 
while the general subject embraces not only all the other bridges and ferries 
which have existed at that site, but also all the public crossing-places on the 
Connecticut River within our State boundaries which are in existence at the 
present time, together with a few that have existed m the past. And as a 
fittmg accompaniment to the subject proper, a few mterestmg bits of local 
history and reproductions of early scenes are added. Special attention is also 
called to the fact that every building, as well as every street section, that has 
been removed or discontinued to make way for these improvements, are shown 
in this book exactly as they appeared before the march of progress caused their 
demolition. 

Many circumstances connected with great changes like those which have 
recently been made along our river front revive scenes of long ago, especially 
among those who are now traveling the downward slope of life, and only by 
the aid of memory can they recall them, because no adequate means then existed 
of preserving them otherwise. But today, by the aid of improvements in 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

picture-taking, cut making, and the printer's art, we are enabled to transmit to 
future generations exact and unerring illustrations of anything and everything 
that can possibly be caught by the camera. 

And as our thoughts go back into the past, how often and earnestly do 
we wish that we could correctly picture to ourselves many scenes that are only 
presented to us by the lines of history or the sayings of tradition! Our early 
history is so rich in matters of this kind that it often seems a pity that such an 
invention as photography could not have been made and perfected before our 







The Hollister House. — Olde-t Hnii;p iq (jIastonbLiiy — Built iq 1675, 



forefathers made their pilgrimage. What could be more interesting at the 
present time, for instance, than a true picture of how that little band of 
pioneers who settled Hartford appeared when "crossing the Connecticut" for 
the first time? And where did they accomplish that crossing? Their route 
lay in a general southwesterly direction from Boston and Newtown (Cam- 
bridge), and consequently in the very beginning of things they were confronted 
with the necessity of "crossing the Connecticut," m order to settle, as they did, 
on the western shore. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




The Talcott House. — Second oldest house iq Glastonbury, Connecticut, 




Nortl-i chamber iq the house showq above, bearing oq its walls the first wall paper ever used 
iq America; imported froni England iq 1725 by Samuel Talcott, who built the house. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

This question has been discussed many times in the past, and many 
have been the conjectures and reasonings in regard thereto. The one thing 
certain in the matter is that the actual point of crossing can never be positively 
known. There are, however, certain facts and circumstances which may help 
us to locate the point with approximate correctness. In the discussions men- 
tioned, two points on the eastern shore have received much consideration: One 
is the theory that they made the crossing at a point about opposite what is now 
known as Ferry street, in Hartford. Why this point should be considered, it 
is difficult to understand, for the reason that the formation of the river bed at 




The Loomis Homesiea'j, — wioest House iq Windsor. 

that point would seem to indicate that there has ever been a depth of water 
there that would preclude the idea of fording. And though, in the course of 
years, the channel shifts considerably, yet the formation of the river bed and 
the force of the current is such that a deep water-way would probably constantly 
exist in spite of the shifting. 

The other fording place considered, and seemingly the most probable one, 
is on the eastern shore opposite what is called the "island," in Windsor, so- 
called from the fact that that section of the town, which borders on the Con- 
necticut, is surrounded by water and cut off from the mainland in freshet time, 
and so becomes an island in reality until the flood waters recede. And right 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

here it may be pertinent to mention the fact that the oldest house in this, the 
oldest town, is located on this "island" section — the old Loomis homestead. 
It is claimed that on the east side of the Connecticut, opposite this part of 
Windsor, there existed in aboriginal times an Indian trail leading to a fording 
place there. This claim is supported by the shallowness of the river bed at 
that location, especially in the season of low water, originally making it, 
perhaps, a favorite place of crossing for the Indians. And that the pilgrims 
took advantage of any old Indian trail that made their journey easier, together 
with the probability of its leading them in the direction of the "land of promise" 
which they sought, there cannot be the slightest doubt. Another point in 
support of this line of reasoning is the fact that this fording-place, and consequent 




The Webb House. — Oldest House iq Wethersfield. 



landing on the western shore, would have carried them to Windsor first, from 
whence, finding settlers already there, they journeyed south and founded Hart- 
ford. And this journeying down from Windsor is in hne with different historical 
mentionmgs, some of which claim that old Windsor was settled in 1 633 under 
the name of Dorchester, while Hartford was settled at least two years later 
under the name of Newtown, and Wethersfield at about the same time under 
the name of Watertown. 

Thus, the idea that the settlers of Hartford first "crossed the Connec- 
ticut" at a point opposite that part of Windsor of which we have here made 
mention, would seem to be the most probable one. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




W/^ ' 'i' 11 



'-.j^ All*. 






1 1 ■ H 






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CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE BRIDGE DISTRICT 

GOM PRISES five towns, as follows: Hartford, East Hartford, 
South Windsor, Glastonburj' and Manchester, which were settled 
or incorporated as follows: 
Hartford — Settled in 1635; incorporated as a city in 1784; population, 
in 1908, estimated at about 105,000. 




■^^tuic:^^. 



East Hartford — Incorporated in 1783; taken from Hartford; population 
estimated at about 7,500. 

South Windsor — Incorporated in 1845; taken from East Windsor; popu- 
lation estimated at about 3,000. 

Glastonbury — Incorporated in 1690; taken from Wethersfield; popula- 
tion estimated at about 5,000. 

Manchester — Incorporated m 1823; taken from East Hartford; popula- 
tion estimated at about 12,000. 

The other towns touched upon in this work are Windsor and Wethersfield. 
Windsor was settled in 1633, and Wethersfield in 1635, by original purchase 
from the Indians, as was Hartford also. 




PRIMITIVE BRIDGES. 



CROSSING A STREAM 



N the present age of immense facilities for manufacture and con- 
struction, few bridge enterprises are considered of enough im- 
portance to call for a book written especially for the occasion. 

And so the simple matter of crossing a stream would not seem to warrant the 

issue of a volume especially dedicated to such a subject. 





State Capitols iq Hartford since 1720. 

Historians, in giving the general outlines which they so accurately and 
interestingly draw concerning matters extending over long periods of time, sel- 
dom descend to details, for many and obvious reasons; yet details may often be- 
come subjects of such importance as to warrant a history of themselves alone. 

Thus, the necessity of even a bridge, or of some means of crossing a stream, 
may at times become a matter of vital importance, — as, for instance, in time of 
war, when it becomes necessary to move a vast army to some remote and obscure 
part of a country because of its strategic benefit. The crossing of the streams 
to be encountered must be accomplished, but in such a case the whole resources 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

of a nation may be drawn from for the purpose. With private enterprise, how- 
ever, resources are more hmited, and, proportionately, the task becomes greater. 

A fair and apt illustration of the necessity and means of crossing rivers 
and water-ways may be found in the vicissitudes of that little band of pioneers — 
consisting of from sixty to a hundred persons (men, women and children), to- 
gether with their cattle and personal effects — who, about two hundred and sev- 
enty years ago, started from Boston and Cambridge upon a journey of over a 
hundred miles, through a "trackless wilderness," seeking a new home in the 
beautiful valley of the Connecticut. 

We are told by the historians that there was among them at least one 
invalid (a woman), who had to be borne upon a litter. How did these ances- 
tors of ours, with sickness in their ranks, cattle to drive, and numberless other 




Old CitLj Hall, now superseded by new Police Building, 



details to claim their attention, succeed in crossing the many water-ways, 
large and small, which they must have encountered in their progress through 
a territory that had never known the presence of human life except in the form 
of the aboriginal wild man, whose primitive and delicate canoe was the only 
"ferry," — owned by a very "close corporation," and patronized by no one but 
its owner, who must have been president, secretary, treasurer, and general keeper 
of the "wampum"? 

This question is a very interesting one, and shows how, as mentioned before, 
a detail may seem to demand a much clearer elucidation than it ordinarily re- 
ceives from the historian. However, that they did overcome this great difficulty 




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CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

seems to be confirmed by the present condition of things, though by what means 
must be left to conjecture. 

The first pubHc highway involving the crossing of the Connecticut River, 
in Connecticut, was estabhshed in Windsor. It was the main outlet to the 
east, and was the immediate cause of the establishment of what is known as 
Bissell's Ferry, the oldest ferry in our country, and connected Windsor with 
what is now known as East Windsor Hill. In 1 648 John Bissell was granted 
a monopoly of this ferry, by the colony of Windsor, in return for a public ser- 




Old City Hall Greeq, — Lool-tnj Ea t — flo occupied by the Post Office Buildinq, 

vice rendered the settlers by making a trip to England in 1 636, and purchasing 
and bringing back some cattle to replace stock which had died from the severity 
of the previous winter. For this reason, also, the Bissell family is regarded 
as the pioneer family of the east side of the river. This ferry is still operated, 
during the summer season, in all its quaintness. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




FERRIES 

EGINNING with the date generally assigned to the first set- 
tlement of Hartford (1635), on the western shore of the 
Connecticut River, we find that the settlers soon began to 
venture to the eastern shore, — the meadow land on that side promising better 




Old City Hall Greeq. — Looking West. — Now occupied by tine Post Office Building, 

farming results and being also more easily tilled. The matter and method of 
crossing the river was left to the ingenuity of each individual until December 29, 
1681, when Thomas Cadwell was granted by the town of Hartford the right 
to establish a ferry across the Connecticut River for public convenience. This 
was more than a hundred years before East Hartford was set off from Hartford 
as a separate town, — that event occurring in October, 1 783, the year before 
Hartford was incorporated as a city. The landing-place of the ferry on the 
west shore was at the foot of what is now called Kilbourn Street, but was 
afterwards changed to the foot of Ferry Street. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

The style of the boat (or boats) and method of propulsion do not appear, 
but were evidently very primitive. A suggestion of what they might have 
been is still to be seen in Bissell's Ferry, connecting Windsor and East Windsor 
Hill, about eight miles north of the site of which we are treating. Bissell's 
Ferry was established in 1 648, and is still in operation during the summer 
season. The boat is a very quaint one, and is propelled across the river by 
means of a pulley attached to the boat, through which passes a cable, which 
is securely fastened on each shore, and is picked up from the bottom of the 
stream as the boat moves along. The power is furnished by the current of 




Bissell's FerrLi, Windsor, Connecticut — In continuous existence since alDOut 1648. 



the river, the boat being set at an angle, and the angle depending upon the 
direction in which the boat is moving. As the force of the current is exerted 
against the boat with a tendency to drive it downstream, the pulley, secured 
to the boat, rolls along upon the cable, and thus the boat is forced to the 
opposite shore, where the whole process is reversed for the return trip. The 
movement is of course slow, but great natural power is demonstrated. Many 
persons cross this ferry for no other reason than because of its quaintness and 
novelty. A picture of this ferry is here given. 

In the case of the East Hartford ferry, whatever may have been the 
first method of propulsion, we know that it finally developed into horse- 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

power upon the treadmill plan, — the horse by this means turning a large 
boxed-in paddle wheel, which, according to old illustrations, was in the 
center of the boat, practically dividing it into fore and aft sections, the 
horse also being enclosed in a sort of cage to prevent contact with passengers, 
and thus avoid danger. As either shore was reached, the horse (or horses) 
was turned around and headed in the opposite direction to get power for the 
return trip. This was the style of both boat and power in 1 84 1 , when the 
ferry was finally abolished. A picture of this ferry is given on the following 





;||LMiSiI.afijLiiiriiiK in [ 







ifi'ilHil @ Ir-"iWiR^ [if ^ ^^ 

* •SJLLHbLLJBB 1 1 JM Pt*. I ■«■ II 'I— J 1 '^— F*<i. ^ — - ^ r 





Exchan:je Corner ii] 1341. 

page, and shows also the primitive old stern-wheel steamer, 'Agawam," — 
one of a line of boats which made regular up-river trips at that period. On 
the deck of the ferry boat is to be seen an old-fashioned chaise. It is a 
peculiar fact that the artist who sketched this picture omitted the old toll 
bridge, and that the scene begins immediately south of it. 



Crossing the Connecticut 



BRIDGES 



CCORDING to Mr. Geo. S. Roberts, in his "Historic Towns of 
the Connecticut River Valley," the first bridge ever built across the 
Connecticut River was constructed by Colonel Enoch Hale, of 
Rindge, N. H., in 1785, and connected Walpole, N. H., and Bellows Falls, 
(now Westminster), Vt. It was a toll bridge, 360 feet between abutments. 





Old Toll Bridge connecting Enfield and Suffield. — Built iq 1808, destroyed by 

flood February 26, 1898, and not replaced, First Bridge built over 

the Connecticut River withiq the State of Connecticut. 

and was 50 feet above the water. A fine single-arch stone bridge now occupies 
the site. 

According to the same authority, the first bridge across the Connecticut 
River in the State of Connecticut was built in 1 808, and connected the 
towns of Enfield and Suffield. It was a covered bridge, 1 ,000 feet long, 
30 feet wide, and rested upon six piers. This bridge was very similar in 
appearance to the one built at Hartford in 1818. It was carried away 
February 26, 1 898, and has never been replaced. Thus it had given ninety 
years of service as a toll bridge. 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

During the same year that the Enfield bridge was built, (1808), agita- 
tion was begun for the building of a bridge at Hartford. In April of that 
year the Hartford Bridge Company was founded, with John Morgan as first 
president; and John Watson, Moses Tryon, Jr., Samuel Tudor, Jr., and 
Richard Goodman, with the president, made up the Board of Directors, 
working under a charter from the State. Six hundred shares of stock were 
issued without fixed value, the idea being that each share should be assessed 
from time to time until money enough was secured to build a bridge. 




The Old Toll Bridge betweeq Hartford and East Hartford — Showing Horse Car Emerging 
—1890— Burned May 17, 1895. Looking East, 



Thus, according to the date mentioned above, just a century has elapsed 
between the first definite movement for the first bridge over the Connecticut 
River at Hartford, and the practical completion of the beautiful structure 
which now spans the river at that point. 

The speculation looked a little uncertain, and the stock could not all 
be placed in Hartford and East Hartford, the towns most directly interested. 
Gaius Lyman thereupon went to New York, and, with Peleg Kingsley, of that 
city, formed a syndicate, and disposed of 250 shares. 



10 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE FIRST BRIDGE 

^^^^ HE first bridge was not built until 1810, two years after 
■ J the organization of the company, and not until each share had 

^^^^^ been assessed $135. 

April 24, 1810, this bridge was opened to the public as a toll bridge, — 
the rates being 8 cents for a single carriage, 12 1-2 cents for a double team, 
16 cents for a barouche, and 25 cents for a stage. The foot passenger paid 
2 cents for each crossing. 





CopyniaHr.i9ob m afo t mianr 



First Budge ever erected ovei the Connecticut River at Hartford. — Opened to travel April 24, 1810 — 
Gained away by ice and flood in Marcl^, 1818. — Birdseye view, Looking Nortl-i. 

This first bridge was built upon five piers and two abutments of masonry, 
was 974 feet long, about 25 or 30 feet wide, and about 25 feet above low 
water at the center of the river. It was an open bridge, with low solid-boarded 
sides, and the toll house stood upon the central pier, on the north side of the 
structure. The grade from each end of the bridge to the center of the stream 
was very heavy, and each of the six spans was somewhat over 1 60 feet in 
length. This bridge extended only from shore to shore, no causeway having 
been built; and in times of freshet the bridge company took passengers from 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

the east end of the bridge across the meadows to East Hartford town by 
boat. The roadway of the bridge rested upon the upper chord of wooden 
arches springing from the piers. During the Hfe of this bridge the shares paid 
$9.00 each, annually, to the holders; but this was not reckoned as profit 
enough to warrant the company in rebuilding, when it was washed away by 
an ice freshet m March, 1818. 

A fine bird's-eye view of this old bridge is given on the preceding page, 
and serves as a companion picture to that of the stone bridge just built. In 
similarity of general outline the resemblance is remarkable. 




Ferry Boat "F. C, Fov^ler," iq use betweeq Hartford and East Hartford after the 
burning of the Old Toll Bridge. — 1895, Looking East. 

A few words descriptive or explanatory of the illustration seem to be 
quite appropriate here. Just north of the left or west end of the bridge is a 
dock or wharf, and next north of that is what we would call today a lumber 
yard, — a place where logs which had been rafted down the river were hauled 
ashore and stacked, ready for the mill. Still north of this yard may be seen 
what is now Riverside Park, with an inlet or creek making in from the river, 
which creek does not exist today. In this wooded piece of land there appears 
a small building, which was used as a powder house. A short distance from 
the west end of the bridge is a building standing alone by itself on the north 



12 







^ 



^•* 
^ 

^ 

^ 



^ 






CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



side of Morgan Street at the corner of Gordon Lane. This building was 
called the "salt box." Gordon Lane ran north and west to Front Street, 
forming an angle. 

Running south from Morgan Street is seen Commerce Street, which was 
the great wholesale business street of the city, with its warehouses and docks, 
where vessels from the West Indies, and other foreign trading ports, were 
constantly arriving and departing. Only the north end of Commerce Street 
is seen here, as the picture is designed to show just about the same extent of 
view as that embraced in the illustration of the new stone bridge. On 
the bridge is to be seen a stage coach leaving for the east, and a load of 
charcoal, drawn by oxen, coming in from the burners of Glastonbury. The 
whole scene is that of an early summer morning. 




^>^^^-' 



NEW HAVEN AND HARTFORD STAGE, 

1825. 

At the east end of the bridge, just beyond the limits of the picture, in 
what is now East Hartford, stood a tavern; and the loaded charcoal teams 
from Glastonbury, on their trip to the city, usually arrived at this tavern at 
about 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, put up there over night, and in the 
early morning proceeded to the city to dispose of their product. In this way 
the old hostelry became the scene of many hilarious occasions, and "made a 
reputation." 

The origin of this picture is as follows: Many years ago, among other 
relics in the old toll house connected with the covered bridge of 1818, was a 
large board upon which was painted a view of the bridge of 1810, and which 
had been used as a sign by parties now unknown — probably some merchant or 

14 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

tavernkeeper. This old sign remained in the toll house for a long time after 
Mr. Thomas Martin became identified with the bridge, which was in 1 834. 
The picture here presented was made for the author under the supervision of 
Mr. Martin, and was not accepted from the artist until Mr. Martin had 
approved it in every detail — the scenery as well as the bridge itself. Its 
correctness is also confirmed by all the statistics of the bridge of 1810 which 
have ever appeared. 

In 1810, when the first bridge was opened, John Treadwell of Farming- 
ton was the Governor of Connecticut, and the City Government of Hartford 
was as follows: — 




Map of Hartford about 1800. 

Ma'^or — Thomas Seymour. 
Clerk — Wm. Whitman. 
Treasurer — Andrew Kingsbury. 
Collector — Josiah Bcckwith. 
Auditor — Elisha Colt. 



Sheriffs 



Horace Wadsworth. 



Nathaniel Skinner. 



15 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



Aldermen. 



Jonathan Brace. 
Theodore Dwight. 



Coiincilmcn. 



Chauncey Goodrich. 
Ephraim Root. 
Enoch Perkins. 
George Goodwin. 
Isaac Bull. 
Edward Danforth. 



John Caldwell. 
John Morgan. 



Richard Goodman. 

James Hosmer. 

Jacob Sargeant. 

Russell Bunce. 

James Ward. 

John Leffingwell. 



James Madison, of Virginia, was President of the United States. 





Burr St.\/ /» Joseph TalcoU, Treasurer. 






Joria'.lidn Wadsworth/ Sea Captain. ■ 


m rpelatiah Pierce. Farmer 






Samuel Talcoll, Merchant ■ g 










Col. Talcotl's .'itore. . | 










Colloii Murray's Tavern m 










Daniel Olcolt's Cooper's shop -, 




■ Col Samuel Talcott. 






Dr Lemuel llopkms. -■ 




B---Williarn Mosely, Evir, 
a . Dr John Endicoit 






Dr. Ehakim Fish. ■ 




B- Timothy Phelps, Cabinet maker 






Zatliariah Pratt, Farmer . 


m - Richard Shepherd. Tailor. 






Tli'Miias Sloanc's Dtacksmilhs shop _ 









Wm. Pralt, Farmer . 


■ Dr Jepson and Judge Root 






Joseph Frail, FurnifT ^ 


I ■ Caol Caleb Bull 




Sar 


uel Wadswortli, Farmer and Sra Cnpt. - 


■ Dr. Morrison, 






tDavid BuWs Tavern. ^ 


^ • George Smilh, Sea Captain. 






James Church. Merrhant j 
Jnhn Ncvms, Cooler and Butcher. . 


1 Court House. 






HavnesLord ,pi [ 


■ Dr. McLean. II 






Old Gove, Shoe maker. ^ 




■ -Dr. Hezekiah Memis-H 






Ebencici Austin's Goldsmith's shop. , 
Currier's Cabinet shop. ^ 




• Su9y Butler's 








■ John Chenevard, Sea Caplam *• 






iJames Mooklar, Barber. « 




I Thomas Hopkins, Sea Captain 






School house. ■ 
First Society Meeting house. _j 




■ FUigg Tavern 

■ Stephen Meers, Various Trades. 






Brown, C^ir maker. . | 




m Deacon Ezra Corning, Shoe maker. 






Stephen Austin, Tailor, n 




tt Col, Wadsworth 






Capt. Hooker. ^ 




■ Benjamm Payne, Esqr., Lawyer 








m James Caldwell, Sen Captain. 






Watson's Printing office. ^ 










William Stanley. , 










• — 











Widow lleppy Seymour or Skinner. — g [^^Elisha Shepherd, Shoe maker. 






i/i"/c^S] ^MRtver. 






^Moses Duller's Tavern.-^ 
Samuel Howard, Farmer. -« 




B- Dr. Bull, and Rev Abraham Beach, £>is 
pal minister 


CO. 




Thomas Seymour, Esqr., Lawyer. ■ 










P«. son Whitman. ■ 




■ Old Will Hooker, Butcher and Blacksmith 






Isaac Tucker, Blacksmith. ■ 




■--Burnharn house. 






Gideon Dunce's house, m 




■ . Groce house. 






Elisha Bumliani's Blacksmith's shop. ^ 




m Aaron Bull, Sea Captain and Shoe maker 






South Meeting house. — < 


' 






Parson Buckingham. ■ 










Dr. Jepson..^ 










Parsonage Kouse. ■ 




■ - Capt. Darucl Sheldon, Farmer. 






Wm. Adams' Shoe maker's shop, -m 




,» Amos ILnsdaIe'3 Tavern 






South Green. 


n\ 





Maiii Street, Hartford, ii] 1733. 



16 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE BRIDGE OF 1818 



FTER the destruction of the first bridge, the bridge company 
voted to vacate the charter and to give up business. This was 

in large measure due to the opposition of a ferry Hne which had 
materially reduced the tolls on the bridge. The ferry did not, however, accom- 
modate the traffic, and the people made a strenuous effort to have the bridge 
rebuilt. By agreement, a meeting between the legislative committee on bridges 





Old loll Diiujti at Hartfoid, Built 1818. Made free September II, 1839. Burned May 
17, 1895. Scuthi Side — Looking East. 

and the directors of the bridge company was brought about, the result being 
that the company agreed to rebuild the bridge under a charter which had special 
privileges dictated by the company. Owing to subsequent developments, this 
charter became known and quoted as an example of "perpetual charter." By 
its terms the ferry was to be discontinued, and the company was to be allowed 
I 2 per cent, interest (if it earned it) as a dividend to lay up towards reimburse- 
ment of the capital, the Legislature not to interfere with the tolls — a bargain 



17 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

which compensated the company. It was agreed to maintain a ferry from 
the eastern end of the bridge during freshet time — which agreement was ful- 
filled until the causeway was built in 1 859. 

The new bridge of 1818, which for sfeventy-six years spanned the river, 
rested upon six piers of masonry — one pier having been added on the west 
end to support the draw, which addition now became necessary, as the newly- 
organized Federal Government had assumed control of all navigable waters, 
and the river was at that time considered commercially navigable far above 
Hartford. The new bridge was a covered structure, divided into two road- 




nterior of the Old Toll Bridge betweeq Hartford and East Hartford, — Looking East. 



ways by a central row of heavy wooden arches and braces, which added 
greatly to its strength. All the piers had been raised four feet higher than 
they were under the old structure of 1810. The bridge was built of native 
upland pine, and the roadway hung upon the lower chords of the arches which 
sprang from the piers. 

To show what a great work the building of this new bridge was in the 
minds of the people of that time, an extract is here given from the "Gazeteer 
of Connecticut and Rhode Island," published in 1819 by John Chester Pease 
and John M. Niles, the latter of whom afterward held many important and 



18 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



honorable offices under the City, State, and National Governments, 
notice of Hartford occurs the following: 



In their 



HARTFORD BRIDGE, across Connecticut river, opposite this city, commu- 
nicating with Morgan street, is a stately and magnificent structure; of great public 
convenience, as well as advantage to this city. This bridge was originally erected 
in the year 1809 at an expense of more than $100,000, inclusive of the extensive causeways 
upon the east side of the river. It was partially swept away by the freshet in the spring of 
1818, and was rebuilt the succeeding summer and autumn. The present bridge is constructed 
upon different principles from the former one, and is greatly improved from it. Its arches. 




East end of Morgar] Street, north side. — These buildings are now replaced by the new 
Freight Stations and Yard. 

of wSich there are six, of 1 50 feet each, are above the floor of the bridge, strengthened 
by strong braces, and well secured from the weather, the whole wood work bemg covered. 
The arches rest upon six heavy slone piers, and two abutments. One of those 
piers was erected in building the present bridge, and the rest raised, enlarged, and 
strengthened. There is a safe and convenient draw upon the west side of the river, which 
obviates any serious obstruction to the navigation above this city. The bridge, inclusive 
of the draw, is 974 feet in length and 36 feet in width. It has convenient sidewalks 
for the accommodation of foot passengers; is provided with what are termed "dead 
lights," upon each side, and sky lights upon the roof, at 20 feet distance, and a 
suitable number of lamos. 



19 






'^ 




1' !- 



I I E 







CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

The timber of the arches and wood work of the bridge is almost exclusively 
pine, and, being strongly ccnslrucled and well secured from the weather, it cannot 
fail of being permanent and durable. As the facility which it affords to travel is an 
advantage to the interests of this city, so the elegance and grandeur of its structure are 
an addition to its appearance. This bridge, whether we consider its size, its strength, 
or the elegance of its structure and general magnificence of its appearance, is surpassed 
by few in the United States. The expense of rebuilding and repairs in 1818 was about 
$40,000, making the whole cost about $150,000. 

From the same volume we here quote a more general and extended 
description of Hartford at that time, as showing the city to have been, according 




Front Street, nortfi of Morgaq Street. — All buildings iq foreground demolished. 

to business and population, proportionately a greater center and of more 
national and even world-wide importance than it is today, especially as a 
maritime port: 

ROADS. There are few towns uniting more conveniences, or better accommodated, 
with respect to roads, than Hartford. Among others, the following public roads pass 
through, or centre in, this town; most of which ate turnpikes, or artificial roads: 

1. The great Atlantic road to New York, through New Haven; distance, 123 miles. 

2. The same to Boston, through Springfield; 128 miles. 

3. The same to Boston, through Stafford; 98 miles. 

4. The same to Boston, through Ashford; 99 miles. 



21 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

5. Road to Albany, through Sheffield; 95 miles. 

6. Road to Albany, through Lenox; 94 miles. 

7. The road to Brattleboro, (Vt.) through Northampton, on the west side of the 
Connecticut river; 90 miles. 

8. Road to Hanover, (N. H.) through Springfield, on the east side of the 
river; 140 miles. 

9. Road to Providence, through Windham; 74 miles. 

10. Road to New Haven, through Middletown ; 40 miles, 

i I . Road to New Haven, through Berlin ; 34 miles. 

12. Road to New Haven, through Farmington; 38 miles. 

13. Road to Hudson; 78 miles. 




Front Street, southi of Pleasant Street. — Buildings all removed. 

14. Road to New London; 42 miles. 

15. Road to Norwich; 40 miles. 

16. Road to Danbury; 58 miles. 

The foregoing roads, whether turnpikes or not, are well made; and there are few 
weeks in the year in which they will not be found by travellers substantially good and 
pleasant in the vicinity of this town. Eighteen mails communicate with the Post-office 
in this town, several of which are daily; there are also thirteen different lines of stages, 
which communicate with Hartford. It is believed, therefore, that there is no town of its 
size in the United States, that unites so many facilities and conveniences for communication 
and intercourse abroad. 

STATISTICS. The population of this town at the census in the year 1800 was 
5,347 persons; in 1810, 6,003. At the present time (1818) it may be estimated at 6,500. 



22 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

There are in Hartford 850 dwelling houses; 6 houses for public worship; 12 dis- 
trict schools; 1 do. for Friends; 9 printing offices; 21 taverns, or public inns; 18 ale, 
porter, and small beer houses; 14 houses concerned in navigation; 5 wholesale dry goods 
stores; 26 dry goods retail stores; 61 grocery, crockery and provision stores; 7 druggist's 
stores; 5 grain mills; 4 clothier's works; 1 cotton factory, of 320 spindles; 2 woolen do., 
one of which is in operation and employs 15 workmen; 2 carding machines; I machine 
card factory which manufactures $10,000 worth of cards annually; 8 distilleries; I oil 
mill; 6 tanneries; 5 potteries; I button factory; 1 whip-lash factory which manufactures 
$10,000 worth of the article annually; 2 hat factories, one of which is upon an extensive 
scale and employs 36 workmen; 2 tin ware factories; 2 looking-glass factories which 
together manufacture $30,000 worth of goods annually; 4 coppersmiths, two of which 




Front Street, looking nortq fron^ Morj.v^ ;*--_■_• — i.-'-^ ■■-.■■' j :.j ,- *Jiis scene removed 
for the new Freight Stations, and street discontiriued. 

carry on the business upon a large scale, one of them employing about 20 workmen; 
13 blacksmith's shops; 1 bell foundry; 1 air furnace; 1 paper-hanging manufactory; 

1 marble paper do.; 6 book binderies; 7 book stores; 6 sign, coach and house painters; 

2 portrait painters; 3 engravers; 8 gold and silver smith's shops; 15 shoe factories; 1 
fine or morocco leather do., 4 shoe stores; 8 cabinet furniture and chair makers; 19 
master house joiners and carpenters; 6 master masons and bricklayers; 4 carriage makers; 
2 wheelwrights; 10 coopers; 1 pewter factory; 1 burr mill-stone manufactory; 2 leather 
dressers; 2 gold-leaf manufactories; 1 umbrella manufactory; 5 merchant tailors; 6 tailor's 
shops; 9 millinery and manluamaker's shops; 1 silk dyer; 1 sailmaker; 1 brush manufac- 
turer; 6 bakers; 1 confectioner; 5 barber shops; 3 auctioneers; 3 exchange offices; 3 
lottery offices; 16 butcher's stalls, belonging to the two public markets. 



23 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




24 



CROSSING, THE CONNECTICUT 

The list of (he town in 1817, was $137,845.75; there were 628 taxable polls; 26 
minors; 395 horses; 370 oxen; 820 cows, etc.; 2,075 acres of arable or plough lands; 
7,292% acres upland, mowing and clear pasture; 581 acres bog meadow, mowed; 5,127 
acres bush pasture; 172 chaises, and 12 coaches. 

The late valuation, or assessment of the lands and houses of the town, made in pur- 
suzmce of the laws of the United Stales, in the year 1816, was $3,168,872.32. In the 
year 1799, $751,532.91. The number of dwelling houses, the same year, was 593. 

This statement of ihe valuation of real estate and of the number of dwellmg houses 
at these two different periods is a slrikmg evidence of the growth and rising importance 
of the town. In the course of the last nineteen years the dwelling houses have increased 
227; and in ihe short space of seventeen years the real estate of the town increased more 




Commerce Street. — Oldest Block of Warehouses iq Hartford. — Every building iq this 
scene removed and street discontinued for the new Boulevard. 

than four hundred per cent.; making an entire addition of $2,417,339.41, which is more 
than three times ihe amount of the value, at that lime, of the whole real estate of the 
lown. This has not been a period of great, or even usual, prosperity. It has been 
marked by a succession of commercial difficulties, embarrassments, and restrictions. From 
1805-6 to the close of the late war (1812), the commercial interests of the country were 
more or less precarious and embarrassed, and at times wholly suspended. 

The system of the warfare carried on by the two great belligerents of Europe, either 
involved all other powers, or from a total disregard of all established principles, tended 
to abridge and sacrifice their commercial rights and interest. 

This country, from the enterprise of its citizens and the extent of its commercial in- 
terests, suffered more severely than any other. The embargo and restrictive measures 



25 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

ensued, which were followed by war; which, together, comprised a period of eight years 
of peculiar commercial difficulties. Since the peace, the manufacturing interests that had 
grown up during the war have been nearly sacrificed, and those of trade have experienced 
great languor. The depression of these interests necessarily affects that of agriculture. 
During this period, also, (here has been a constant course of emigration from the Slate, 
and from this town and vicinity; yet under these inauspicious circumstances, the property 
of the town has increased, by rise of real estate, and the addition of buildmgs, four fold. 
But it is not to be inferred that the size or business of the town has extended in this ratio. 
The rise of real estate proceeds from other causes; it is influenced not only by population 
and business, but by improvements, social refinem'tnts, and almost the whole train of ar- 
tificial causes which exist in society. 




Lower (or east) end of State Street — Connecticut Boulevaid intersects oq left, near the 

Railroad Bridge. 

The augmentation or rise of property has enriched the land-holders in a manner and 
to an amount of which they are scarcely sensible. They have become rich without 
exertion or calculation; they have profited from the industry, the enterprise, and the business 
of others, whether successful or profitable to themselves or not. The improvements, the 
refinements, and even the luxuries and vices of society, which ruin others, have been a 
source of gain to them. If, under these circumstances, the town has advemced in wealth 
and importance, in this astonishing ratio, whatever may be thought of the influence of 
emigration or other unfavourable circumstances, it may be safely calculated that it will 
continue to extend its size, its interests, and its consequence. 

In Hartford there are 5 officiating clergymen; 22 practising allornies; 12 practising 
physicians and surgeons. There are, of militia, 1 company of Light Artillery; 2 com- 



26 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

panics of Infantry; 1 do. of Light Infantry; 1 company of Riflemen; also I company 
of Horse and 1 of Foot Guards. These several military companies, in style and elegance 
of uniform, in correctness of discipline, and in skillfulness of military evolutions, are 
not surpassed by any companies of militia in the United States. 

There are about 1,000 electors, or freemen, in this town; a number which exceeds 
by several hundreds, any other town in the Stale. 

The civil divisions of Hartford are two ecclesiastical societies; 12 districts for schools, 
and an incorporated City. 

HARTFORD CITY was incorporated in 1784; it comprises an area of about 
seven hundred acres, being more than a mile in length upon the river, and about three- 




Post Office Building. 

fourths of a mile in breadth. Its site, if not in every respect eligible, is pleasant and 
interesting. The alluvial flat upon the river is narrow, being from forty to a hundred 
rods, and connects with the upland with a very gradual elevation. There are several 
streets upon the flat, and several upon the rise of land, which, though not parallel, run 
in a corresponding direction with the river. These streets are intersected by a number 
of others, running back from the river, but do not regularly cross them at right angles. 
The city is irregularly laid out, and rather appears, with respect to the order of it, to 
have been more the result of circumstances ihan of design or arrangement. It comprises 
in all twenty-four streets, of which Main street, being the great river road and extending 
through the city from north to south, in a serpentine direction, is the principal. This 
sdreet is well built, and, for more than a mile, presents an almost continued range of buildings; 
many of which are large and elegant brick edifices. It comprises most of the public 



27 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

buildings, and a considerable proporlion of the population, wealth, and business of the 
city. The street is not paved, but has been underlaid with a stratum of stone, whicH 
renders it firm and generally dry, and it has convenient and handsome flagged sidewalks. 

State street, next to Main street, claims a conspicuous notice. Running westerly 
from the river, it connects wilh Mam street by two branches, which enclose the State 
House square. This union forms the most central part of the city, and is its greatest 
theatre of activity £md business. This street, towards Main street, is compactly built, and 
contains many large and elegcmt brick buildings. 

Morgan street exiends from the principal angle or curve in Main street eastwardly 
to the great bridge across the river opposite the city. This street, being in a great measure 
dependent upon the bridge for its population and consequence, was not of much consider- 




II bijeet, lookinq east from Maii| _ 

alion at the time that it was erected; since which, in the short interval of about nine 
years, it has become an important section of the city. The repair or rebuilding of the 
bridge which has taken place the season past, giving it a more permanent and durable char- 
acter, and correcting some of its inconveniences, m connection wilh the circumstance of the 
discontinuance of the ferry, must have a sensible influence upon the growth and importance 
of Morgan street. 

Commerce street runs along the bank or margin of the river. It is the seat of a 
considerable portion of the m.arilime business, and many of the houses concerned in nav- 
iga:tion have stores in this street. 

Ferry street exiends westerly fiom ihe liver, at ihe landing of the ferry, to Front 
street. It was built at an early period, and has always been a compressed and active 
part of the city. An apprehension has been indulged that the discontinuance of the ferrv, 



28 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

thereby diverting the public travel to Morgan street, would essentially injure this section 
of the city; but it is believed that there is little foundation for this idea. Ferry street 
contains several mercantile houses engaged in navigation, and a great number of respectable 
grocers and traders. 

Front street extends from the northern part of the city to Mill river. It is con- 
siderably built, and is increasing in population, yet it sustains little or no commercial business. 

Prospect street extends from State street to School street. It is delightfully situated, 
and is ornamented with a number of superb dwelling-houses and elegant and tasteful gardens. 

Trumbull street extends from the north part of Main street to Mill river. It contains 
many dwelling-houses, some of which are elegant brick buildings, and is a pleasant and 
healthy street for a residence. An extension of this street to the New Haven turnpike, 
and the erection of a bridge across the river, which would be necessary for this purpose, 
could not fail to add greatly to its consequence and that of olh;r sections of the city. 




.>i&iJ«S> X«.-S!^iSk'iii 



fc- 



iLjin.j ^p 



juiiu. — i\c:^uiij place of the FoLinders and 
Settlers of Hartford. 



Pearl street, extending from. Main street to Trumbull street, is short but very hand- 
somely built, comprising a number of elegant brick edifices. 

Church street runs weslwardly from Main street; it has many neat and well-built houses. 

West street is a pleasant, prospective, and rural situation. It has a considerable ele- 
vation, and affords a view of the whole city, and unites the pleasantness, and, in some 
measure, the conveniences of the country and city. 

Within the limits of the corporation, the City of Hartford contains 540 dwelling-houses, 
which afford convenient tenements for nearly seven hundred families. The population 
of the city at the census of 1810 was 3,955, exclusive of the sulv.rbs. 1 ho public buildings 
of the city are a State House, four churches, two banking houses, a Slate arsenal (being 
just without the limits of the corporation), and a county Gaol. The State House, which 
IS situated in ihe central public square already noticed, is a stately stone and brick edifice 



29 



East Face, 




Monument iq memory of the Founders and Settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, — Erected 

\q old churchyard of the First Congregational Churcl-), now called the 

Center Cemetery or Ancient Burying Ground. 



Nortl^ Face, 




CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

of ihe Doric order, being I 14 feet by 76, including ihe Iwo porticos, the walls of which are 
54 feel in height. The two porticos are 38 feet by 17 each. On the basement floor 
is a large hall or area extending through the building, on the left of which is a spacious 
and convenient court-room; on the right are two rooms occupied as public offices by the 
Treasurer and Controller. On the second floor are two spacious halls or apartments 
designed for and occupied by the two Houses of the Legislature; that on the right or south 
wing of the building, being occupied by the Governor and Council, is called the Council 
Chamber; that in the north wing, being occupied by the House of Representatives, is de- 
nominated the Representatives' Chamber. The latter is provided with a small and incon- 
venient gallery, and the former with none at all. At the late session of the Assembly, 




City Hall (Old State House), Hartford, Connecticut. 

however, a resolution was adopted, and a committee appointed to provide a gallery or bar 
lo the Council Chamber, so as to admit spectators. Upon the second floor in the portico, 
at the west end of the building, is a room occupied as an office by the Secretary of State. 
On the third floor are several large rooms designed for committee-rooms, but which are 
considerably neglected. If the Legislature could be persuaded to make a small annual 
appropriation for the purchase of a library, to be called the State Library, one of those 
rooms would be a convenient apartment for this purpose; and having been occupied for 
a number of years by Mr. Stewart's museum, it has already been consecrated to the arts 
and sciences. 



32 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



The new Congregational meeting-house, situated in Main street, is a superb brick edifice, 
being 104 feet by 64; and its style and architecture, which is of the Ionic order, are among 
the finest specimens of the arts that are to be found in this State; in front, it has a lofty 
and elegant portico, supported by eight large columns, four in front and four in rear, resting 
upon an elevated stone base, which is approached by a figSt of steps. 

The two banking houses, one situated in Main s!reet and the other in State street, 
are elegant and neat buildings, and are also fine specimens of the arts. The Hartford 
Bank in State street, is a brick edifice with a portico in front supported by four stone 
columns resting upon an elevated basement, which is surrounded by a flight of steps. Ths 
Phoenix Bank in Main street, directly onposile the State House, has an elegant whits 







First ChLirchi of Christ iq Hart 



ngregational. ) 



marble front; the other walls are of brick. It is entered by an elevated flight of steps, 
ornamented with an iron balustrade fence. 

The State arsenal is situated just north of the limits of the city, on the country road. 
It is a substantial fire-proof brick building, designed as a place of deposit for arms and 
military stores. It was erected during the late war, and at this time contains about seven 
thousand stands of arms, more than forty pieces of ordnance, and a large quantity of mil- 
itary stores belonging to the State. 

There is a bridge across Mill river, which connects the two parts of the town. It 
!ias heretofore been of wood, but a new bridge is now erecting, which is to be supported 
by stone piers. 



33 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

There are in the City of Hartford nineteen schools, three of which are pubhc or 
district schools, and have been included in the number of district schools belonging to the 
town; fifteen of the others are pri\ate schools, and one an incorporated grammar school. 
One of the public schools is deserving of particular notice; it is established and conducted 
upon the new economical and improved method of instruction. It is the largest school 
in the State, £uid probably in New England; containing usually 600 scholars, all of whom are 
superintended by one principal instructor and ten assistants. The scholars are divided 
into numerous classes, according to their acquirements, and are severally permitted to progress 
from class to class, according to the proficiency which they may make, which tends to 
encourage and stimulate them to exertion. The grammar school has a handsome fund, 
and has at times sustained a high reputation. Scholars are taught in English and Latin 




Americaq AsLjkini for the Deaf, ^ •:'• ; ;, C^jnivjCtic >' 

languages, and the rudiments of the sciences, whereby they are fitted for college. Several 
of the private schools have deservedly a very high reputation ; a number are designed 
exclusively for young misses, and are considerably celebrated. 

At the present lime there are 1,132 scholars which attend the several public and pri- 
vate schools in the city. 

Among the institutions of learning in this city, the "Asylum for the deaf and dumb 
persons is deserving of particular notice. It was incorporated in May, 1816, and was opened 
for scholars in April, 1817. This is the first institution of the kind in America, and its 
establishment has been attended with great difficulty and expense. Mr. Thomas H. Gallaudet, 
who is at the head of it, visited the celebrated institution of Edinburgh and Paris to qualify 
himself for its direction. On his return from the latter place he brought with him Mr. Clerc, 
one of these unfortunate persons, educated at that seminary, who is now associated with Mr. 
Gallaudet as an instructor at this institution. There are about fifty deaf atid dumb persons 
at the Asylum, the greater number of whom are from without the State. 



34 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Tuition, board, and other expenses are established at $200 per annum. However 
highly we may value an mstitution calculated to draw aside the veil which has darkened 
the understanding of an unfortunate portion of the human race, it is, however, apparent 
that under present circumstances it can be of no use to those who, to the misfortune of 
being deaf and dumb, add also that of being poor. 

The Hartford Museum, now in Main street, nearly opposite the Episcopal Church, 
belonging lo Mr. Stewart, was first opened in the Stale House in 1801. It was then 
the only establishment of the kind in the Slate, excepting a few articles at Yale College. 

It was so far patronized by the State that the Legislature permitted the proprietor to 
occupy the two committee rooms in the Slate House for the arrangement and exhibition 
of his Museum during the recess of the Assembly, and one room during their session. In 




laiq Street, looking south^ froni Asyluni Street, as it appeared betweeq 1850 and 



1808, from the industry of its ingenious proprietor and the liberality of others, the col- 
lection had so far increased that (he apartments became crowded and inconvenient, and 
the building which it now occupies being fitted up for the purpose, it was removed to 
its present situation. The room occupied by the museum is about 70 feet in length, and 
is neatly arranged and handsomely filled with several thousand articles, such as paintings, 
waxwork, natural and artificial curiosities. 

Strangers and others who visit the Hartford Museum will find a gratification for their 
curiosity eind taste. 

There are four newspapers published in this city, one an imperial and the other three 
a super-royal sheet. Although concerned in one of these establishments, we do not know 
precisely the number of papers which are published weekly in the city, but think it must 
exceed six thousand. 



35 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




o 



\Lt 1 1 i # 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



A social library was eslablished in Hartford in 1796. It contains at this time 2,550 



volumes. 



Among the useful, charitable and friendly societies are the following: Hartford 
Agricultural Society (which, however, is a county institution). Mechanic's Society, Free 
Mason's Society, Moral Society, Hartford Charitable Society, Female Beneficent Society, 
Sunday School Society, Hartford Auxiliary Bible Society, Harmony Society, Tract Society, 
and two Female Cent Societies. 

In the City of Hartford there are two incorporated banks: Hartford Bank, incorporated 
in 1792, having at this time a capital of 1,000,000 dollars; and Phoenix Bank, incorporated 
in 1814, with a capital of 1,000,000 dollars; it has a branch at Litchfield. 

There is a Marine Insurance Company, incorporated in 1803, and a Fire Insurance 
Company, incorporated in 1810. There are 5 fire engine companies, well regulated and 




The Old Hartford Bank, 

provided with engines and other means of effective operation; and the Union Company, 
incorporated in 18C0 for the purpose of removing obstructions to the navigation of 
Connecticut river from this city to the Sound. This company has a capital of 120,000 
dollars. The improvement of the navigation of the river, both below and above this place, 
must be an object of primary importance to the City of Hartford. 

The system of towing boats up Connecticut river, proposed by John L. Sullivan, Esq., 
by means of a steam engine constructed upon novel principles, has recently been submitted 
to the citizens of this place; and it is understood that it is contemplated to make an ex- 
periment of its practicability and usefulness. Should this plan succeed (and from a 
cursory examination of the engine it is not perceived why it may not), it would give fa- 
cility and extension to the navigation of the river, and eventually contribute towards the 
growth and importance of the city. 



37 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

A more correct idea, perhaps, of the navigation of Hartford cannot be obtained than 
what may be formed by referring to the amount of the tonnage owned here; which, to- 
gether wilh what IS owned in Welhersfield and employed wholly in trade that centres in 
Hartford, of actual and not of registered tonnage, amounts to 9,377 tons. 

During the year 1816, two hundred and seventy-eight ships, brigs and schooners, and 
more than two hundred smaller vessels, ascended Connecticut river to Hartford. The 
same year there were 1 7,600 tons of merchandise passed through the locks and canals at 
Hadley, 40 miles up the river from '.his cily ; and it has been estimated that 5,000 tons 
more were carried on the river south of that place. From these facts, in connection with 
the circumstance that Hartford is situated at or near the head of sSip navigation, upon 
one of the finest rivers in the world, and that it has a back country bordering upon this 




Steamboat Dock of the Hartford and New York Transportatioi] Company, at the foot 

of State Street. 

river of more than 200 miles in extent, containing a dense and thriving population, the 
advantages of this city for business, and its commercial importance, can be determined. 
It IS admitted that these advantages have not been improved to the extent nor produced those 
results which might have been expected. There are many causes which hav'2 checked 
the growth and importance of this city. The city is incorporated by the name of the 
"Mayor, Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and Freemen of the City of Hartford," who 
possess the municipal authority thereof. The Mayor is chosen during the pleasure of 
the Legislature, and the Aldermen and Common Councilmen for one year. The Mayor 
and two senior Aldermen constitute the City Court, and hold a session on the first Monday 
of every month. 



38 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



BUSINESS PRESTIGE IN 1825 




T this time Hartford, as a mercantile city, was a great distributing 
center; and on the river front, along Commerce street, and on Ferry, 
Kilbourn and Morgan streets, were located many wholesale houses, 
receiving at their own docks goods directly by vessels from all parts of the 
world, making Hartford, for that age, a great maritime port, a condition 
which has been completely swept away by the advent of the railroads. Hart- 




Commerce Street just north^ of State Street. — Every building seeq here removed for the 

new Boulevard. 

ford was also a great center for stage lines, and as late as 1 848 there were 
twenty-one different routes of stage travel diverging from the city. 

Following is a complete list of the busmesses along the river front as they 
existed in 1825 — eighty-two years ago, and only seven years after the second 
or covered bridge was built (1818). The list is arranged so as to read from 
north to south, beginning at the bridge or just north of it, which was at that 
time the "uttermost limit," in that direction, at the river front. It must be 
remembered, when reading the names of the streets as given below, that what 



39 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

was at that time Theater street is now Temple street, and that what is here 
given as Old Ferry Street or Old Ferry Landing is now Kilbourn street; also 
Potter's Lane is now Potter street. Otherwise, the names of the streets here 
given are the same today as they were at that time. The locations are 
given here just as they were in the old work from which they were taken. 
The list is as follows: 

Benjamin Flagg, cooper, north end of Front street. 
Collins's Tavern, corner of Morgan and Front streets. 

Samuel Barber & Co., West India goods and groceries, corner of Morgem and Front 
streets. 




East end of Morgaq Street. — All buildingb oq the left of this picture removed for 
nevu Freight Stations and Yard. 

Henry Pease, drygoods and drugs, corner of Morgan emd Front streets, 

H. Gaylord, "private market," Front street near Morgan street. 

Caleb Church, rope maker, Morgan street near Collins's Tavern. 

James Church, rope maker, Morgan street near Collins's Tavern. 

William Montague & Co., lumber yard, north side Morgan street. 

Stedman & Gordon, lumber yard, Morgan street. 

S. & H. Fowler, soap and tallow chandlers, Morgan street near the bridge. 

R. Bradley, watchmaker and jeweler, Morgan street near the bridge. 

Selah Treat, West India goods and groceries, Morgan street near the bridge. 

Christopher Saunders, West India goods and groceries, Morgan street near the bridge. 



40 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

John Kelsey, West India goods and groceries, Morgam street near the bridge. 

S. & H. Fowler, West India goods and groceries, Morgan street near the bridge. 

Silas Drake, Jr., West India goods and groceries, Morgan street near the bridge. 

Averill & Peck, West India goods and groceries, Morgan street near the bridge. 

B. Fuller, Jr., West India goods and groceries, corner of Morgein and Commerce streets. 

Normand Lyman, West India goods and groceries, corner of Morgan and Commerce 
streets. 

Morgan & Brainard, West India goods and groceries. Commerce street near Morgan 
street. 

Sear's Tavern, Commerce street near Morgan street. 

Morgan & Tisdale, West India goods and groceries, Commerce street near the bridge. 




Coal Docks and Freight Yard. — All removed to make roonq for Connecticut Boulevard oq 

the River Front. 

Thomas W. Sloan, blacksmith, corner of Commerce and Old Ferry streets. 
James Hanmer, cooper. Old Ferry street. 
John Smith, cooper, Old Ferry street. 
James Weeks, cooper, Old Ferry street. 
Charles & John Weeks, coopers. Old Ferry street. 
Hercules Clarke, truckman, near Old Ferry Landing. 
Giff Johnson, truckman, near Old Ferry Landing. 
Mill's Tavern, Old Ferry Landing. 

Thomas K. Brace & Co., West India goods and groceries. Commerce street six rods 
north of Ferry street. 



41 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




42 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Chapin & NortSam, West India goods and groceries, Commerce street five rods north 
of Ferry Landing. 

Porter, Bunce & Co., West India goods and groceries. Commerce street five rods north 
of Ferry. 

Hitchcock & Finney, West India goods and groceries. Commerce street four rods north 
of Ferry Landing. 

Jesse Savage, West India goods and groceries. Commerce street three rods north of 
Ferry Landing. 

Jeremiah Brown, West India goods and groceries. Commerce street three rods north 
of Ferry. 

Joseph Church, watchmaker and jeweler, head of Ferry street. 




CwiTiiricr^^ b'.iv-ui. —Old Fiuijlil Dupot. — All buildings iq this scene removed for nevv 
Boulevard along the River Front. 

Oliver Treat, boot and shoe manufacturer, head of Ferry street. 

A. S. Fielding, tailor. Front street near the head of Ferry street. 
Engine No. 3, Ferry street. 

Stockbridge's Tavern, Ferry street. 

Colton's Inn, Ferry street. 

Hill & Hills, cabinet warehouse. Ferry street near Colton's Inn. 

Normand Ormsby, painter and glazier, Ferry street near Colton s Inn. 

Willard Packard, boot and shoe manufacturer. Ferry street near Colton's Inn. 

Nathan Noyes, boot and shoe manufacturer. Ferry street near Colton's Inn. 

B. Phelps, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street near Colton's Inn. 

R. Palmer & Co., West India goods and groceries, Ferry street opposite Colton's Ir 



43 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Marvin Ormsby, West India goods and groceries, Ferry street opposite Colton's Inn. 

Daniel Goodale, Jr., West India goods and groceries, Ferry street near Colton's Inn. 

G. & S. Dodd, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street opposite Colton's Inn. 

Watson's Tavern, Ferry street. 

Daniel Winship, baker. Ferry street near Watson's Hotel. 

T. T. Welden, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street near Watson's Inn. 

Henry Waterman, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street near Watson's Inn. 

Ellery Hills, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street near Watson's Inn. 

Frederick Bange, West India goods and groceries, Ferry street near Watson's Inn. 

Lyman Bacon, West India goods and groceries. Ferry street near Watson's Inn. 

Levi Stewart, West India goods and groceries, north side of Ferry Landing. 




Looking northi frorri State Street oq Valley Railroau li.,., . 

for the new Boulevard. 



i^ seeq here removed 



Daniel Buck & Co., West India goods and groceries, south side of Ferry Landing. 
Elijah Bibbins, truckman, south side of Ferry Landing. 

Benjamin Taylor, West India goods and groceries, south side of Ferry Landing. 
Asa Farwell, West India goods and groceries, corner of Ferry and Commerce 
streets, near the Ferry. 

Benoni Case, West India goods and groceries, corner of Ferry and Commerce streets. 
Wolcott & Kilbourn, West India goods and groceries, Ferry street near the river. 
Parsons Train, truckman. Ferry street near the Landing. 
Nathaniel Wales, boot and shoe manufacturer, foot of Ferry street. 
Thomas Williams, drygoods, foot of Ferry street. 
Lewis Maxon, tailor, Talcott street near Front street. 



44 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Heyer, Bremner & Burdelt, distillery, corner of Front and Talcott streets. 
L. Bull, agent, brewery. Front street between Theater and Talcott streets. 
Abner Newton, blacksmith, Talcott street near the river. 
George Lewis, cooper, Talcott street near the river. 

Watkinson & Collins, West India goods and groceries. Commerce street between Ferry 
and Stale streets. 

N. A. Phelps, sheriff, corner of State and Front streets. 

S. Silloway, auctioneer, corner of State emd Front streets. 

L. Newell, lottery vendor, corner of State and Front streets. 

G. P. Grant & Co., West India goods and groceries, corner of Slate and Front streets. 

Eh Ely, West India goods and groceries, corner of Stale and Front streets. 




Looking west, up State Street. — Commerce Street oq the right. 

River Front Boulevard. 



-Beginning point of the 



John Weare, sailmaker, Slate street near the river. 

Taylor & Miller, sailmakers, foot of Stale street. 

R. Shepard, blacksmith, foot of Slate street. 

ApoUos Sweetland, stonecutter, corner of State and Commerce streets. 

Waterman Roberts, stonecutter, corner of Stale and Commerce streets. 

David Burbank, lumber yard. Slate street. 

David Watkinson & Co., iron and steel. State street near the river. 

Daniel P. Hopkins, paints, dyestuffs and window glass, State street near the river. 

Robert Anderson, flour, foot of State street. 

Isaac D. Bull, drugs, paints and window glass. State street near Front street. 

John Richardson, drygoods. State street three doors west of Front street. 



45 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




46 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Solomon Porter, West India goods and groceries, State street, near Morgan's Coffee 
House. 

E. F. Read, carpenter, foot of Grove street. 

Daniel Goodale, stoneware manufacturer, Front street thirty rods south of State street. 

Goodwin & Webster, stoneware manufacturers. Front street forty rods south of State 
street. 

A. & T. Hanks, furnaces, foot of Potter s lane. 

Charles S. Phelps, dislillery, south end of Front street. 

Nathciniel Jones, truckman, head of Fron? street. 

Gaius Lyman, lumber yard. Commerce street. 

W. S. Deming, pump and block maker. Commerce street. 




Commerce Street, corner of State Street, on the Right. — Point where the River Front 
Boulevard intersects State Street, 

Joseph Harris, pump and block maker. Commerce street. 
George Callis, truckman, near foot of Commerce street. 
Orrin Smith, truckman, foot of Commerce street. 

The territory involved in the hst of businesses just given comprised every- 
thing east of Front street at that period. Front street then being a very fine 
residence street. Gradually the best residential area moved westward, until 
today it lies west of the Railway Station, "on the hill. " 



47 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



UNLAWFUL COMPETITION 

MOOTH sailing did not accompany the exclusive charter of the 
bridge company, as East Hartford citizens, who had been also anxious 
to have the bridge built, contested the right of the company to control 
river traffic, and in 1 836 put on a ferry boat. The bridge company main- 
tained its right to entire control, and there was a contest between the company 





[ ! - : - -■- --■- ■ -:'i^ -■ - -j-'-\ '-■'-'-'. — ••," buildings seeq |-iere removed and street 
discontinued co make roon'\ for the new Freigi^t Stations and Yard. 

and the town. A compromise was proposed by which East Hartford was to be 
granted half-toll if the ferry boat should be withdrawn. In town meeting, in 
East Hartford, the proposal was strenuously rejected. In 1841 the Legisla- 
ture ordered the ferry abolished, but restored it the next year. 

The contest continued, however, the company sueing out an injunction 
against the town and the ferry. The Supreme Court of the State dismissed 
the writ on the ground that East Hartford being a town, immovable and 
responsible, a suit rather than an injunction would be the proper remedy. The 
bridge company, after keeping account of the number of passengers who 



48 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

patronized the ferry day by day, brought suit against the town, and East 
Hartford was defeated in the State courts. The case went to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and that tribunal held that the State courts did 
not err; and the ferry was finally abolished in 1844. 

Commissioners were then appointed to make an award in accordance 
with the decision of the courts, and ferriage for six years was allowed the 
company, ferriage for two years being thrown out. East Hartford sold twenty 
shares of its slock in the bridge company to aid in meeting the claim, which 

was $12,363.36. 




The "Old Yellow Block," or Pallotti Building, foot of Morgaq Street. — Takeq by 
condemnatioq proceedings for the improvement of the westerq approach^. 

Samuel Colt, in later years, established a ferry opposite his firearms 
factory ; but as this was a private concern, the bridge company made no protest. 

The original bridge of 1810 cost, including land rights and the building 
of the eastern causeway or approach, $96,000, and the bridge of 1818, 
built upon the old piers raised four feet, and one additional pier, including 
also the draw, cost $30,000. It was shown before the courts that up to the 
time of the East Hartford suit the company spent $47,000 for maintenance of 
the bridge and causeway. 



49 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



MADE FREE OF TOLL 



OEM AND for a free bridge, which had been steadily increasing 
for many years, was first presented in the Legislature of 1887, 
and came to a crisis in 1 889, when the Legislature transferred 
the bridge from the company by purchase, the State paying forty per cent, 
of the purchase price, the remaining sixty per cent, being paid by the towns 



r^^f^ 




jMiMBHBf^TK 



Entrance to the Old Toll Bridge, as it appear^ : \ . 
opened, — Looking east. 



the Valley Railroad 



of Hartford, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester, and South Windsor. 
The amount paid for the bridge and the extinction of the bridge 
company was $207,300, or $345.50 per share. The bri4ge was made free 
of toll September H , 1 889, and the people of the east side towns celebrated 
by sending a procession across made up of fantastic floats and decorated carts, 
and by much rejoicing. 

The interested towns controlled the bridge by a commission, and it was 
repaired and kept in good condition, Charles W. Roberts of East Hartford 
having been appointed superintendent. 



50 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

The Legislature of 1893 passed an act putting the control of the bridge 
into the hands of the State, but this act was repealed in 1895, after a lobby 
scandal in which it was alleged that $35,000 passed hands in an attempt to 
prevent the State from receding from its purpose. 

A great deal of the contention arose probably from the feeling that Hart- 
ford and East Hartford, being the two localities most directly interested in 
and benefitted by the bridge, should bear the expense between them. But it 
was finally settled by the creation of the Connecticut River Bridge and High- 
way District, comprising the five towns of Hartford, East Hartford, South 




Extreme east end of Morgaq Street, soutt-i side. — These buildings removed to make roonq 

for the new Boulevard. 

Windsor, Glastonbury, and Manchester. And ultimately Hartford assumed 
all of the expense above the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. 

While this matter was being threshed out in the Legislature, the bridge 
was destroyed by fire, and other plans were subsequently made. 



51 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



BURNING OF THE OLD BRIDGE 

*^^^^-^HE burning of the bridge, which had spanned the river for seventy- 
■ J six years, occurred Friday evenmg. May 17, 1895, and was one of 

^^^^^ the rrost spectacular fires ever seen in the Connecticut valley. The 
fire started sometime between 6.30 and 7.30 o'clock, a still alarm from No. 
3's engine house sending a hose cart to the East Hartford end of the bridge. 




Burning of the Old Toll Bridge at Hartford, May 17, 1395. Soutl-i Side— Lool<ing West, 
where the fire first appeared. Later, about 7. 1 5 o'clock, an alarm was rung 
in from box 29, Morgan and Front streets, calling out the entire department. 
Obviously but little could be done, as it was impossible to get upon the bridge 
without the greatest danger, the fire running rapidly through the pine timbers 
which had been seasoning for three score and ten years. As it was, the hose 
cart and horses belonging to Engine Company No. 3, which attempted to 
get across, were lost through the burning wreck, the driver and firemen 
barely saving their lives. More than 20,000 people witnessed the fire, 
which took on the form of gigantic fireworks, the skeletons of the arched 

52 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

framework standing out in bold relief entirely across the river in a line of 
brilliant fire. 

The Hartford Courant, in its issue of Saturday, May 18, 1895, thus 
described the spectacle: 

"It was less than ten minutes from the discovery of the blaze before the flames 
reached the west end, cind the bridge had become, in the darkening of the night, for the 
first time in its history, a thing of beauty. The outside shealhing and roofing blazed with 
a clear light, reflecting in the water beneath, and against the sky, while just above ihe 
glare great waves of smoke were wafted by the light wind slowly to the north. But 
if the blaze was handsome then, when the covering and the roof had burned off it was still 




Ruins of the Old Toll Bridge betweeri Hartford and East Hartford, after the fire, 
Maij 18, 1895.— Looking East. 
more so. There was the long skeleton of the bridge, its great wooden arches on either 
side of the center running east and west, glowing like brilliant blazing rainbows, while 
the transverse supports of the roof structure stood out, each one of the hundreds of 
them, living hot golden ribs of fire like the architectural beginnings of some fairy structure. 
It was a lovely sight mdeed." 



"The bridge was gone. The connecting link between the east and ihe west side of 
the river was missing. Standing on the end of the draw and looking east, there was 
naught but the stone piers, each with the smouldering embers of some portion of the much- 
abused 'old ramshackle affair' that had done faithful service for three generations, whose 
planks had been pressed by the feel of passing millions." 

53 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




IN MEMORIAM 

AREWELL, old bridge! Thou monarch of the past. 
Thy sheltering arms are laid to rest at last. 
No more will travelers thy ancient roadway tread, 
For thou art numbered now among the honored dead. 



fi 



Our fathers braved the winter's snow and summer's sun 
To hew from the forest primeval, one by one. 
The grand old sentinels that Time had long preserved 
For the great purpose thou so well hast served. 

They reared thee, with a just and honest pride, 
To bear them o'er the swiftly running tide 
That holds the Indian title, "River, Great," 
And gave the name to our historic State. 

From winter's blasts and summer's torturing sun 
Thou didst long protect the weary traveling one; 
Nor could the Icy King or sullen rising flood 
Swerve thee from where thou hast in duty stood. 

Against all elements but one hast thou prevailed; 
But when that one thy bulwarks strong assailed. 
Though thou didst struggle hard, thou had to yield, 
Defeated — not dishonored — on a well-fought field. 

And now above thy grave and in thy place 
A monument we'll rear that Time cannot efface — 
A bridge of stone, from which posterity shall learn 
It is not death to bravely die — or burn. 



54 



■sxodaa iHoraaj (ihva xHoiaaj 

r-t^Mtie-ii.ij.||.ij.|j Iff 




CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



ORIGINAL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE HARTFORD 
BRIDGE COMPANY 

(All original shares bear date of June 5, 1809.) 



John Watson, . 
Henry Watson, 
Samuel Tudor, Jr., 
Moses Tryon, Jr., 
Richard Goodman, 
Makins Bement, 
Justm & Elias Lyman, 
Holkins, Stedman & Co., 
Ward Woodbridge, . 
Henry Butler, . 
John Pierce, 
James Lewis, 
Jonathan W. Edwards, 
Anson G. Phelps, 
Amos Ransom, 

All shares were signed 
"Jno. Morgan, President. 



Shares. 




Shares. 


10 


James Lathrop, 


2 


5 


James Church, 


2 


10 


Sheldon W. Candee, . 


2 


3 


Charles Mosely, 


1 


5 


Joseph Lathrop, 


75 


10 


William Thompson, . 


50 


20 


Jumel & Desobry, 


60 


6 


James McCready, Jr., 


20 


3 


Augustus Wright, 


40 


1 


Justin Lyman, 


5 


3 


Ichabod Lord Skinner, 


2 


10 


John Morgan, . 


140 


3 


Leroy Bayard & McEvers, 


80 


1 
1 


Freeman Kilbourn, 


30 



Total shares. 



600 



Sheldon W. Candee, Proprietor's Clerk.'' 

PRESIDENTS 



Of the Hartford Bridge Compan'^, in the order of their election. 
John Morgan. Joseph Terry. 



Griffin Stedman. 
James Killam. 



Horace Williams. 
Thomas Martin. 
Joseph Merriman. 



James Gordon. 
Samuel Maxon. 
James D. Chapman. 
Thomas Martin. 
G. S. Kegwin. 



TOLL COLLECTORS 

In the order of their terms of service. 

Francis Wheat. H. W. Vinton. 

J. W. Pease. W. Forbes. 

L. W. Lyman. E. Rood. 

E. F. Risley. L. Cotton. 

J. Hills. A. E. Warner. 



56 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



STOCKHOLDERS OF RECORD SEPTEMBER 11, 1889 



Beaumont, Electa L. 
Beaumont, H. G. 
Beaumont, Wm. D. 
Bement, Mary E. 
Bliss, E. L. 
Bond, A. L. 
Brewer, C. D. 
Brewer, Lucy P. 
Bryant, Mrs. P. S. 
Burnham, James 
Chapin, Emily 
Clark, L. W. 
Comstock, Nellie H. 
Cutler, Mrs. Simon 
Cutler, Susan E. 
Cutler, Theodore G. 
Day, Sarah C. 
Day, Thomas M. 
Ellsworth, David W. 
Ellsworth, John 
Ellsworth, Lucy A. 
Ellsworth, Mary A. 
Forbes, Mrs. Charles 
Gordon, Mrs. A. M. 
Gordon, Robert M. 
Gordon, David F. 
Gordon, Thomas 
Goodman, Abigail 



(When the Bridge Tvas made free.) 

Goodrich, Stephen 
Goodwin, H. L. 
Grovesnor, C. P. 
Hanmer, C. F. 
Hotchkiss, F. A. 
Lee, Sarah M. 



Frede 



Lyman, r reaenck 
Lyman, Theodore 
Martin, Thomas 
Merriman, Charles 
Merriman, Harriet E. 
Merriman, Joseph 
McClay, John 
McClay, Mrs. J. S. 
Noble, Elinor F. 
Olmsted, J. L. 
Parsons, John C. 
Porter, Frank W. 
Porter, W. E. 
Rist, Mrs. D. W. C 
Smith, Alfred 
Smith, John H. 
Seymour, N. P. 
Strong, Mrs. Annie M. 
Trudeau, Mrs. E. L. 
Wales, Lota B. 
Walker, Mrs. A. M. C. 
Williams, George A. 



57 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

In 1818, when the second bridge was opened, Oliver Wolcott of Litchfield 
was Governor of Connecticut, and the City Government of Hartford was as 
follows : 

Mayor — Jonathan Brace. 
Clerk — Jeremiah Brown. 
Treasurer — Nathaniel Goodwin. 
Collector — Benjamin Bolles. 
Auditor — Elisha Dodd. 



Sheriffs. 
Horace Wadsworth. Jabez Ripley. 



John T. Peters. 
Thomas Day. 



Aldermen. 



John Russ. 
Henry Seymour. 



Councilmen. 



Elisha Babcock. 
John Watson. 
Simeon Griswold. 
Isaac Sweetland. 
Talcott Wolcott. 
James Thomas. 



Jeremy Hoadley. 
Cyprian Nichols. 
Caleb Pond. 
Joseph Pratt. 
William Dodd. 
Noah A. Phelps. 



James Monroe of Virginia was President of the United States. 



58 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS 



Established Previous to 1825, and Still Existing. 

American School for the Deaf, .... 

Washington (now Trinity) College, 

Retreat for the Insane, ..... 



Established 

1816 
1824 
1824 




Trinity College. 



BUSINESSES 

Established Previous to 1825, and Which Have Been in Continuous Existence 
Ever Since, Under the Same Name and St^le. 











Established 


Hartford Courant, ...... 1 764 


Hartford Bank, 








1792 


Hartford Fire Insurance Company, 








1794 


Phoenix Bank, 








1814 


Hartford Times, 








1817 


Aetna Insurance Company, . 








1819 


Society for Savings, . 








1819 


Connecticut River Banking Compan 


y. 






1825 



59 




Temporary Wooder[ Bri : I and East Hartford. — Opened to Travel 

June 8, 1895 — Carriea away oy nooa December 23, 1895. — Looking East. 




Temporary Iroq Bridge betweeq Hartford and East Hartford, — Openea to Travel 
June 12, 1893, — Looking East, 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



TEMPORARY STRUCTURES 



WOODEN BRIDGE 

>^^"^REVIOUS to the burning of the bridge, a plan was evolved for re- 
■> M placing it by a more substantial structure ; and material for a temporary 
^^*^ bridge was at the river side. Immediately after the burning, the Berlin 
Iron Bridge Company began the construction of the first temporary bridge, ferries 
and the steam road caring for the traffic in the meantime. This bridge, which 
was of wood, was on a low level, built on spiling and served well as long as it 
remained; but flood and freshet were too much for it, and after remaining in com- 
mission from June 8, 1895, until December 23 of the same year, an ice jam 
carried away the west end; and March 1, 1896, the remainder went the way of 
the first section. The cost of this bridge was about $ i 8,000. 



IRON BRIDGE 

Four ferry boats were in commission from the destruction of the first tem- 
porary bridge until the opening of the second temporary iron bridge. May 
4, 1896. These boats were the "Cora," the "Nellie," the "Gildersleeve," 
and the "F. C. Fowler." This bridge was built by the Berlin Iron Bridge 
Company upon "crib piers," was above high-water mark, and stood just north 
of the original site where the Hartford bridge is now located. The bridge 
was an iron truss bridge, resting on piers, and protected from ice and freshets 
by stout iron "Vs" on the piers. It proved to be a substantial structure 
for a temporary one, outliving its five years guarantee by seven years additional, 
and was sold and removed in the spring of 1908. Its cost was about $35,- 
000. Views of these bridges are given. 



61 





o ^ 



O 2 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



FLOODS 

^^^^HE formation of the valley of the Connecticut River, especially in and 
■ j near Hartford, is such that there is an annual spring flood, and some- 

^^^^^ times an overflow in the fall. The height to which the water rises at 
these times varies from 15 to 25 feet, and has several times exceeded even the 
latter limit, notably in 1854, when the water rose to the greatest height recorded 




Lower State Street and Commerce Street submerged by flood waters. — Corner where 
Connecticut Boulevard curves into State Street. 

since the settlement of the colony — 29 feet and I inches. A picture of this 
great flood is given, in which the old toll bridge is seen on the extreme left, com- 
pletely cut off at its eastern end. Other floods, when the water exceeded 25 
feet in height, are as follows: 



1683 . 


26 feet 


1869, April, 


26 feet 8 inches 


1692 . 


26 " 2 inches 


1869, October. 


26 " 3 •• 


1801 . 


27 " 8 " 


1870 . 


25 " 4 " 


1841 


26 " 4 " 


1895 . 


25 " 8 '* 


1843 . 


27 " 2 " 


1896 . 


26 " 4 ** 


1854 . 


29 " !0 " 


1901 . 


25 " 10 *' 


1859 . 


26 " 5 ' 


1902 . 


25 " 4 " 


1862 . 


28 " 8 " 







63 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE NEW STONE BRIDGE 

XN 1 895 the Legislature passed an act creating the Connecticut 
River Bridge and Highway District, and appointed Morgan 
G. Bulkeley, Meigs H. Whaples, John G. Root, and John H. 
Hall of Hartford, James W. Cheney of Manchester, Alembert O. Crosby 
of Glastonbury, John A. Stoughton of East Hartford, and Lewis Sperry 




Southi Side. — Looking East, 

of South Windsor, as commissioners representing the towns comprising 
the district. The act gave the commissioners full power in the matter of the 
erection of the bridge. Judge Stoughton declined to serve, and Charles W. 
Roberts was named in his place; and upon the death of John H. Hall, his 
place was filled by the appointment of Frank C. Sumner. 

This act provided for the issuance of bonds not to exceed $500,000 for 
the construction and maintenance of the approaches, bridge, or bridges, con- 
necting the towns on the west and east side of the river. It also provided 
for the apportionment of expenses among the towns interested as members of 
the district, for the accommodation of street railway traffic; and for nego- 



65 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

tiations with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Raihoad Company in 
regard to moving the Valley railroad tracks in such manner as might be agreed 
upon for the benefit of the bridge and its approaches on the west side of the 
river. Amendments were subsequently made to the act providing that any 
town of the district might vote to pay cash to the district equal to the propor- 
tion due from said town, and vote to issue bonds to provide funds for such 
purpose. 

In 1 899 the Legislature passed an act specifically relating to the ap- 
proaches to the bridge on the west side, authorizing the City of Hartford and 




Storage Yard. 

the Bridge District to vary or extend the approach in accordance with agree- 
ments to be made; but no further burdens in this matter were laid upon the 
towns of Glastonbury, Manchester, East Hartford, and South Windsor, the 
other towns of the District; and in further legislation by the General Assembly 
at the same session, power was given to condemn and take lands, when, in 
the opinion of the Commission, it was found necessary and convenient for the 
purposes of the District. 

In 1901 further legislation was enacted providing for the new layout of 
the Valley road and authorizing the District Commission to acquire by con- 
demnation or purchase, agreeable to the law of eminent domain, any and all 



66 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

lands occupied or used by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 
Company northerly from said new layout and which may be abandoned by 
the company. 

Early in the life of the Bridge Commission it encountered an obstacle in 
the refusal of the town of Glastonbury (probably to test the powers of the 
Bridge Commission) to pay orders drawn upon it for the objects for which 
the Commission was created. The courts of the State upheld the Commission, 
and, on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, that judicial body 
found that there was nothing in the proceedings which could be said to be in 








Beginning work oq easterq abutment, 

violation of any of the provisions of the Federal constitution, and the judgment 
of the Supreme Court of Errors of this State was confirmed. 

In July, 1901, the Common Council of the City of Hartford appointed 
a special committee to confer with the Bridge Commission in regard to the 
bridge and its approaches. It reported February 10, 1902, the results of its 
conference, which was to the effect that the approaches which had been favored 
by the Commission would cost $708,402, and that three plans had been of- 
fered for the bridge itself. One was for a stone-arch bridge, one for a steel- 
arch bridge, and one for a steel-girder bridge. 

The stone bridge, it was estimated, could be built for $ 1 ,600,000, 
the steel-arch bridge for $878,000, and the steel-girder bridge for $782,000. 



67 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

in round numbers. The committee recommended the passmg of a resolution 
approving the approach plan known as the "compromise plan, " and submitted 
to the Common Council the question as to which one of the three bridge designs it 
would prefer. 

Meanwhile the Hartford Board of Trade, the Hartford Business Men's 
Association, and the general public held a meeting, February 8, 1902, at the 
Board of Trade rooms, and unanim.ously voted in favor of the approach plan 
and of a stone bridge. February 24, 1902, the Common Council voted to 
request the Bridge Commission to adopt a plan for a stone bridge, and that 




Building one of the largest caissons. 

the construction of the bridge be commenced as soon as possible. There 
were incorporated in the call for the municipal meeting and election held the 
first Monday in April, 1902, two resolutions to be acted upon by the people. 
The first provided for an appropriation of $1,000,000 for a stone bridge 
across the Connecticut River, and the second provided for an appropriation of 
$709,000 "for extension in Hartford of approaches to proposed Connecticut 
River bridge." The first resolution was passed by a vote of 8,995 to 451, 
and the second was passed by a vote of 7,553 to 541, and the city stood 
committed to a stone bridge and to the proposed approaches. 

During the progress of preparation for plans the Commission was met 
by strong opposition on the part of the city of Springfifeld, and other up-river 

68 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

towns in Massachusetts, to building the proposed bridge without a draw; and 
this opposition succeeded in making a draw one of the conditions upon which 
the bridge should be built, the War Department of the United States Govern- 
ment acting in the matter. The consent of the government was obtained to 
build the bridge, draw included, in February, 1 903, the signature of President 
Roosevelt having been required. This consent included restrictions in regard 




Interior of a caissoij. — Pier a!most ready for the "belt course. 
69 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



to keeping the depth of the channel at a fixed mark for a certain distance 
below the draw. It became necessary to modify the plans of the bridge by 
moving one of the heavy piers westward to serve as one of the piers to abut 
the draw. 

After this modification of the plans had been made, and the building of 
the piers had advanced to a point that precluded any further change, the con- 
sent of the Federal Government was obtained for the elimination of the draw 
and the building of a solid stone structure. 

The contract for the building of the bridge was awarded July 13, 1903, 




Interior of the lower chamber of a caissoq while iq the course of constructioq. 

to McMullen, Weand & McDermott of New York, and work was begun as 
early as practicable. The cornerstone of the east abutment was laid April 1 6, 
1 904, work on pier foundations having been in progress by the pneumatic caisson 
process for some months. The bridge itself consists of nine arches of granite, 
having spans of from 68 feet to 119 feet, and piers ranging from 1 5 feet 
to 40 feet in thickness, apportioned to bring about a pleasing effect. The 
piers and abutments rest upon rock bottom in the river bed. 

The distance above low-water mark is forty-five feet, and the roadway 
of the bridge has double trolley tracks in the center, ample space each side 
of the tracks for teams, and fine sidewalks for pedestrians. The total width 
of the roadway is 60 feet, and of each sidewalk 1 feet. 

71 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



CONSTRUCTION 

"^"^^^^ARTFORD BRIDGE has been constructed upon one of the oldest 
■ I principles of architecture known to man — that of the arch ; and, 
^M——^ while ancient, is also the strongest, most durable, and most econom- 
ical, in the cost of maintenance, of any method yet devised. The greatest 
objection offered by many to this style of bridge construction is its immense 




Outer corner of a caissoq, showing the heavy timbers used ir] construction, 
— 12x12 inches. 

first cost. But, whether this heavy expense is borne directly by the present 
generation, or is distributed over many years by bonding, it would seem to be 
the wisest method to adopt; and Hartford, in particular, seems to be inclined 
toward such a course, as evidenced by the number of stone and brick arch 
bridges which have been constructed withm her corporate limits since 1833, 
when the first stone bridge (a single arch) was built on Main street over what 
is now called the Park river. This bridge, which has now been in existence 
and use for seventy-five years, and has been subjected to more travel and heavy 
traffic than any other, has cost practically nothing for maintenance, and is 
"no worse for wear" today; while in the meantime other bridges in the city. 



72 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

built since that date, have been repaired and strengthened many times, and 
some of them have finally been replaced by the system of the stone or brick arch. 
A most notable specimen of this style of bridge, and one showing what 
little effect a constant and immense volume of the very heaviest kind of traffic 
has had upon it during a period of forty years, may be seen m the stone arch 
railroad bridge over the Farmington river at Windsor, just north of the rail- 




Deck of a caissor\ ready for business, showing the entrance locks — the 
manlock iq the center, 

73 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

way station in that town. In 1867 it was built by what is now the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, and consists of seven arches of 
considerable dimensions, laid up in irregular courses of freestone. Think of 
the innumerable heavy freight, fast express and other trains that have been 
thundering over it day and night for four decades, and you catch a faint idea 
of its solidity. Yet the cost of maintenance of this bridge is practically 
nothing. No stone construction of ancient times, of which so much has been 
written, ever had the weight, strain, and traffic to contend with, in the whole 
period of their existence, that this bridge has had in only forty years. 




1 ^'-(.^'yi 'A 




Piers completed, ready for the "springing" of the arches. 

The second bridge of this style to be built in Hartford was over the Park 
river at Ford street, which was constructed in 1850, and consists of live 
arches. The only trouble experienced with this bridge arose from the prob- 
ability of faulty construction of the foundations, which were recently repaired. 

The third structure to be erected upon this plan was the bridge over the 
same river at Front street, built m 1853, and consists of three arches. 

In 1857 a stone arch was built over what was once called Meadow creek, 
at the intersection of Front and Water streets, near the pumping station of the 
Water Department ; and since that date the following bridges have been built 
upon the same principle: Over the north branch of the Park river at Farming- 



74 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

ton avenue, in 1871 ; over the Park river at Flower street, in 1885; over the 
Park river at Asylum street, in 1897; over the Park river at Park street, in 
1 898 ; and over the Park river at Albany avenue, in 1 906. 

Thus it will be seen that the stone-arch style of bridge construction is no 
novelty in Hartford. But it is the magnitude and cost of this her latest en- 
terprise, as well as the material, and beauty of style and finish, which command 
attention. 

In surveying and sounding for the foundations for the piers, it was found 
that the bedrock under the river shelved from the west to the east, and for this 




"Sprin.jiny" oi" beyinning to shape ar^ aiclv 

reason the foundation for the first pier from the eastern shore, which was the 
first pier built, lies the deepest of all, some fifty feet below low water, the 
others growing more and more shallow as the western shore was approached. 

After the location and dimensions of the eight piers and the west abutment 
had been settled upon, and the river bed at those points properly dredged, 
caissons of very heavy timbers were constructed, some at the water's edge upon 
the eastern shore, the others on floating pontoons, one for each pier, and one 
for the west abutment, and then towed to the desired location and sunk. A 
lower chamber was formed by laying a very heavy floor inside the caisson and 
at a suitable working height from its lower edge. The lower edges of the 
caisson were "V" shaped and shod with iron. As this lower edge was forced 



75 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




76 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

into the mud at the bottom of the river, by means of the weight of the caisson 
itself^ and concrete which forms a part of the pier, the chamber mentioned 
above was formed and compressed air pumped through a valve in the roof of 
the working chamber, which forced all the water out under the cutting edges 
and left the river bottom exposed and free from water ; and in this space the 
workmen gradually excavated until bedrock was reached, they being furnished 
with air by pumps at a central plant located near the site of the bridge. 

Leading from this lower chamber up to the outer air were three passages 
— one at each end for the raising of the material excavated, and one in the 




Face of aq arcl^, showing false worU or "center," upoq whichi the stones rest 

until the keystone is set. 

center for the ascent and descent of the workmen, who labored in shifts of 
eight (8) hours each during the whole twenty-four hours of the day. The 
interior of the caisson was well lighted by several incandescent electric lamps, 
the current being generated at the central power plant. 

When bedrock was reached, and properly cleaned, this chamber was 
immediately filled with the best of concrete mixtures, and the same was con- 
tinued for some feet above the top or floor of the chamber before mentioned. 
And here began the laying of the heavy foundation stone which had been 
cut and shaped for the purpose and which was to form the upper portion 
of the pier proper. When these stones, which were made from Leete's 



77 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Island granite, were laid and properly backed up with concrete, a so-called 
"belt course," two feet six inches deep, was laid to make a proper "springing" 
line for the arches. 

Between these piers, false works of very heavy timbers, called centers, 
were erected upon piling, on which to lay and to shape the arches, which were 
composed of dressed granite from Stony Creek, Connecticut, cut so that all 
joints were radial to the curve of the intrados. The shape of the arch is 
the mathematical figure called the ellipse, and it is worthy of note that there 
are few bridges in the world that are laid out with such mathematical accuracy. 







Face of a sectiori of arches, showing "centers," binders, and the shape and 
size of the stones used. 

On the upper surface of these "centers" the stones are laid with such care 
and accuracy as to form the smooth and beautiful under surface or intrados 
of the arch, while the upper long and rough ends of the stones act as 
"binders," which, with a filling of the best of concrete mixture, form a solid 
mass that will endure for ages. The buildmg and removal of these "centers" 
is alone a great task, and the "pointing" of the joints (the last finishing touch) 
fully as great a one. 

When the laying of all the arches is completed by the setting of the key- 
stones, and the binders have been filled in or "set" in concrete, the whole interior 
of the bridge between the spandrel walls is then filled with fine river sand up 



78 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

to the level of the grade of the roadway, the surface of which is then paved with 
sheet asphalt. The sidewalks are granolithic, with granite curbing. 

To one who has interestedly watched the progress of a great work like this, 
it IS indeed a great lesson, not only in mechanical skill and engineering, but 
(in a broader sense) in the capacity of the human brain; and the ability of man 
to not only overcome the obstacles of nature, but to ornament and beautify his 
work in a specialized, orderly, and harmonious manner in contrast with the 
wildness of primitive conditions. 




Upper surface of aq arcl^, showing the "binders," or upper ends of the stones, 
ready to be filled iq with[ concrete. 



79 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




80 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



PNEUMATIC WORK 

^^^^^HE building of Hartford Bridge offered the first good opportunity 
■ J for extensively employing pneumatic work in construction that has 

^^^^^ ever occurred around here. It is novel, mterestmg, and, to some 
extent, hazardous. On the deck of the caisson in which and under which 
the laborers are employed in excavation, are large upright tubes by means 
of which entrance to the "depths below" is effected, as well as the hoisting 
to the surface of the material excavated. These tubes are called locks, 
one at each end for excavated material, and one in the center by which the 
workmen ascend and descend. The latter is called the "man-lock." 

The men who work in the caisson, down under the bed of the river, are 
necessarily obliged to endure an air pressure greatly increased over that of 
the normal pressure, and in order to prepare them for this abnormal condition, 
when they enter the man-lock from above for their descent, they close their 
lips and nasal passages and then, keeping their lips closed, try to swallow, 
thus dilating and opening the eustachian tubes, to admit the added pressure 
of air and avoid bursting the drum of the ear, which otherwise might happen. 
Upon ascending, a similar process is gone through, to adjust them again to 
natural conditions. 

The temperature, also, under which they work is often very high, fre- 
quently over a hundred degrees, and it requires thoroughly healthy and mus- 
cular men to successfully withstand such extraordinary conditions. The 
atmosphere in the chamber is generally thick or foggy, murky, and humid; 
and though they work by electric light, there is a haze which obscures 
everything outside of the very small area in which the man may for the time 
be working. Yet, strange to say, but few casualties happen in proportion 
to the dangers encountered in the process. 

Laborers employed in this kind of work have acquired the appellation 
of "sand hogs," probably from their constant relation to the work of removing 
the sand at the bottom of the river in their search for bedrock. Two views, 
showing them engaged in this hazardous work, are given. 



81 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




82 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



APPROACHES 

GONNECTICUT BOULEVARD is the appropriate name which has 
been decided upon for the approaches to the bridge from the east and 
west. The Boulevard begms at its intersection with State street 
in Hartford, runs northerly along the river front to the west end of the bridge, 
and is continued from the east end of the bridge easterly to Main street, or 
"Church Corner," m East Hartford. 




Steel-girder "dry" bridge oq the easterq causeway, for the relief of flood Vvaters. 

The eastern approach to the bridge consists of about one mile of the 
most beautiful macadam road construction to be found anywhere — a model, 
in fact, for any commiunity contemplating work of this kind. Beginning 

at Main street. East Hartford, and running at a right angle with that thorough- 
fare, it pursues a westerly course, as straight as an arrow, to the easterly end 
of the bridge, and consists, for a greater part of its length, of a deep fill 
across the meadows, raising it safely above the flood line. At the eastern 
end of this fill is a steel girder "dry bridge," to relieve the flood waters in 
their season. This avenue is 66 feet wide, has ample sidewalks on each side, 
with patent concrete curbing, and is thoroughly drained and lighted. Men 
are constantly employed in keeping it thoroughly clean, and it is frequently 



83 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

top-dressed and rolled, besides being well sprinkled in dry weather. Double 
trolley tracks are laid in the center, leaving a beautiful roadway on each side 
for teams. 

The western approach begins at the City Hall in Hartford, passes down 
State street easterly to a point just east of Front street, where, by a graceful 
curve, it connects with Connecticut Boulevard, which runs northerly along and 
parallel with the river front, and by a gentle grade rises to a level with the 
bridge, at which point a turn is made to the east on to the bridge itself. To 
the east of this boulevard is an open cut, running through which are the two 




Looking east fron-i the Bridge, showing its great widtl-[. 

main tracks of the Valley branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad, and at the point where the turn is made into State street is located 
the new and neat little East Side passenger station of that road. From the 
eastern side of this cut to the river front, and extending from the bridge on 
the north to State street on the south, is a promenade or park, from which, 
as well as from the elevated boulevard itself, a beautiful view of the bridge 
is obtained. On the river front itself, about halfway between the bridge and 
State street, it is proposed to build an ornamental landing-place for yachts 
and pleasure boats ; but this feature, if carried out at all, is a matter for 
the future. 



63 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

This beautiful bridge and boulevard, and the vast improvements involved 
in their construction, have completely transformed the river-front of the city 
from a condition of filth and squalor to one of cleanliness and neatness; and 
the whole work stands as a grand memorial to the wisdom and enterprise 
of the Bridge Commission, loyally supported by the citizenship of Hartford. 
Moreover, as a sample of beautiful, massive and strictly up-to-date stone 
construction, in its vastness and magnitude, Hartford Bridge easily assumes 
a position as one of the great works of the modern world. 



INTERESTING STATISTICS OF HARTFORD BRIDGE 

Total length, 1,192.5 feet. 

Nine spans, from the west, as follows: 101.5 feet, 108 feet, 115 feet, 
1 1 9 feet, 1 1 5 feet, 1 08 feet, 8 1 feet, 74 feet, 68 feet. 

Eight piers, from the west, widths as follows: 40 feet, 18 feet, 19 feet, 
1 9 feet, 1 8 feet, 40 feet, 1 6 feet, 1 5 feet. 

Maximum clear height, to intrados of arch above low water, about 45 feet. 

Width, face to face, of spandrel walls, 82 feet. 

Clear roadway, 80 feet, divided as follows: two 10-foot sidewalks, and 
roadway 60 feet between curbs. 

Foundations made by the pneumatic caisson process. 

Deepest foundation, about 50 feet below ordinary low water. 

Largest caisson (of which there were two of the same size), 46 feet x 
1 3 1 feet, which is a single working-chamber of this dimension, which is one of 
the largest ever used. 

Material used: — From the top of foundation to belt course at springing 
line, Leete's Island granite; all other stone above this point. Stony Creek granite. 

Weight of largest finished stone used in the construction of the bridge 
proper, 1 tons. 

Weight of largest finished stone used on work, about 46 tons. 

Total amount of masonry in the bridge proper, about 1 00,000 cubic yards. 

Total barrels of cement used in construction of the bridge, about 125,000. 

Cost about $1,600,000. 

Chief Engineer: Edwin D. Graves. 

Deputy Chief Engineer: John T. Henderson. 

Assistant Engineer: Edward W. Bush. 

Consulting Engineer: Alfred P. Boiler, New York. 

Consulting Architect: Edmund M. Wheelwright, Boston. 

Contractors: McMullen, Weand & McDermott, New York. 

86 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



CASUALTIES 



I^OHN J. WHEATLEY. of No. 65 Bumside avenue. East Hartford, 

^ I employed as a night watchman in connection with the new stone 
^^_^^^ bridge, disappeared April 5, 1906, and on June 14, 1906, his body 
was found near Colt's dyke. By some unknown cause he had been drowned, 
and his body had floated to that point, where it was discovered after he had 
been missing for two months and nine days. 




Easterly app;'..;^:^, _-.-.ing westerly fron^ Maiq Street or "Church C'jinor," F.;/ :_,;:■. ici, 

An Italian laborer, while working on a barge at the bridge, was accident- 
ally forced into the water and drowned. 

A boat, containing two boys, was swamped by the contents of one of the 
hoisting buckets, and its occupants drowned. 

During the building of the steel-girder "dry bridge" on the eastern cause- 
way, a pair of valuable horses were lost in quicksand. 

While filling in on the west shore, on the north side of the bridge, another 
pair of valuable horses were drowned. 

As far as is known these are the only serious accidents during the whole 
progress of the work. 



87 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




68 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



REFERENCES 



O 



O the public records wherein may be found all legal acts and pro- 
ceedings leading up to the building of the new stone-arch bridge: 



Public Acts, 1887, chapter 126, page 746. 
Special Acts, 1887, chapter 310, page 759. 
Records of the Superior Court for Hartford County, 1895, 1896, 1907, 

1908. 

Public Acts, 1889, chapter 185, page 110. 

Special Acts, 1889, chapter 453, page 1321. 

Public Acts, 1893, chapter 239, page 395. 

Public Acts, 1893, chapter 258, page 407. 

Public Acts, 1895, chapter 168, page 530. 

Special Acts, 1895, chapter 343, page 485. 

Special Acts, 1899, chapter 135, page 124. 

Special Acts, 1 899, chapter 151, page 1 36. 

Special Acts, 1899, chapter 377, page 323. 

Special Acts, 1899, chapter 328, page 296. 

Special Acts, 1901, page 976. 

Connecticut Supreme Court Records, 1896, 1897. 

United States Supreme Court Records, 1897. 

Records and Election Returns in the office of the City Clerk, Hartford, 
1901, 1902. 

Special Acts, 1903, page 388. 

Special Acts, 1905, page 522. 

Special Acts, 1905, page 630. 

Special Acts, 1907, page 156. 

Special Acts, 1907, page 188. 

Special Acts. 1907, page 219. 



89 



. - 1 . P rf J 



.m 



'i'U 



M 




CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



CHANGES 



VAST changes have been involved in this bridge improvement plan. 
Many buildings, some of them very old and of historic interest, 
have been swept away in this grand march of progress. By the 
sale or condemnation of property, hundreds of families were compelled to 
seek new locations, and the most of them settled in the more northeastern 
section of the city, happily bettering their condition, as a rule. The sections 
of Front street. Commerce street, Charles street, and what was originally known 
as Gordon lane, all lying between Morgan street and Pleasant street, have 
been cleared of all the old buildings, as has also the north side of Morgan 
street from the silk mill easterly ; and the territory thus cleared is now occupied 
by the freight depots and freight yards of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford Railroad Company, in consequence of an exchange which was made 
between that company and the Bridge Commission. On the south side of 
Morgan street all buildings facing on Morgan street from Front street easterly 
to the river have been removed, as well as those on Commerce street from 
Morgan street southerly to State street, and including the old freight depot 
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, which territory now 
constitutes the western or river-front section of Connecticut Boulevard. Pic- 
tures of these sections as they originally appeared are shown in this book, and 
a diagram of its future use and appearance is also given, as well as a picture 
of the finished Boulevard. 

Interesting views are also given of lower State street, especially where 
Connecticut Boulevard curves into the latter thoroughfare. At this point 
the grade of the street has been raised several feet, in order to place it above 
the flood line, a feature which has been involved in all present and prospective 
plans for improvement of the east side of the city. For this reason a view is 
also given on page 63, of this corner while under flood waters. 



91 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




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92 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



EAST SIDE FLOOD PROTECTION 

GLOSELY related to the great improvements effected by the building of 
Hartford Bridge and Connecticut Boulevard, is the subject of raising 
the whole east side of the city above the flood line, for the considera- 
tion of which the Court of Common Council has appointed a special committee 
entitled Committee on East Side Flood Protection, whose labors, it is hoped, 
will eventually result in a definite plan, the carrying out of which will do away 
forever with the annual inundations which have caused so much sickness. 




Oq the Connecticut. 

distress, inconvenience, and loss in the past. With this object in view, the 
whole east side of the city has been surveyed at least twice in the last few 
years, and bench marks placed to show the extensive raising of grades that 
would be required. It means at least the shutting out of flood waters on 
the west side of the river from the Colt dykes on the south to the highlands 
of Windsor on the north, and, if it is ever accomplished, will require probably 
a great many years for its attainment. But it is worth both the effort and 
the expense. What the enterprise of one man has done for the south 
meadows, certainly ought to be supplemented and finished by the resources of 
a great city for its whole water front. 



93 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




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94 



© 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



OTHER BRIDGES AND FERRIES 

Y a peculiar happening of events, all the highway toll bridges over 
the Connecticut River in the State of Connecticut will be made free 
before or about the time of the dedication of Hartford Bridge, 
only the legal formalities remaining to be gone through with in order to bring 
about this result. 

Chapter 258, Public Acts of the State of Connecticut, Session of 1907, 
page 871, provides for the freeing of the bridges between Enfield and Suffield 
(at Thompsonville), between East Windsor (Warehouse Point) and Windsor 
Locks, and between Portland and Middletown. Also the bridge across the 
Niantic river, between East Lyme and Waterford. 

In accordance with the foregoing act, the bridge between East Windsor 
(Warehouse Point) and Windsor Locks was made free on June 1 6, 1 908, 
and the event was celebrated on Saturday, July 1 8, 1 908. 

Views of these bridges, and of the ferries that preceded them, as well 
as of the ferries now in operation on the Connecticut, are reproduced in the 
following pages. 

Thus, loyal to its title, this book illustrates and touches upon every public 
crossing of the Connecticut River since the earliest times (of which any authentic 
record exists, and which are of enough importance to warrant mention), and 
including the railroad bridges also. 



95 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




ridge connecting Thompsonville and Suffield, Connecticut. 




Old Ferry betweeq Thompsonville and Suffield, Connecticut. — Now superseded by the above Bridge 



% 




Suspension Bridge connecting Warehouse Point and Windsor Locks. 




The Old Ferry betweeri warennusf r^jim and Windsor Locks, Coi 

bridge showq above. 



superseded by the 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 





Railroad Bridge o.^r tlv 



R^ver at Warehouse Point, Connecticut, 




Ferry Boat "Colonial," connecting Lyme and Saybrool',, at the moutli of the 
Connecticut River. 



98 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




Railroad Bticiye ii] tlie foreground, and highway bridge ir^ the distance — -Middl 
towq, Connecticut. — Hartford and New York steamboat passing througl^, 
oq its way to Hartford, 




Old and New Railroad Bridges at the mouthy of the Connecticut River 
Saybrook, Connecticut. 

99 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




Ferry Boat "Geq, Spencer," plying betweeq Middle Haddani and Maromas 
(Middletowq), Connecticut, 




Ferry Boat "MidcI'Lic," connecting Hadlyme and CInester, Connecticut, 

100 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 





•ANUM FERRY 



Old Ferry at Higganutri, Connecticut, 
(See front cover.) 



101 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




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102 



PORTRAITS 

and 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




THOMAS MARTIN 




'R. THOMAS MARTIN, for fifty-five years identified with the old 
toll bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford, was born in 
Washington, Berkshire County, Mass., August 29, 1818, the same 
year that the bridge was built. He came from old colonial stock, and a fine 
biographical sketch of his life is given in the first volume of the Mack Genealogy, 
on page 157. When seventeen years old, he came to Hartford and entered the 
employ of his brother-in-law, who was engaged in the ready-made clothing busi- 
ness, and remained in that position for ten years. In 1 844 he engaged in the 
retail grocery business on his own account, and built up a large and successful 
trade; and in 1850 added to his business the manufacture of candles, which was 
also successful. In 1857 he began dealing in hides and fat, and continued suc- 
cessfully in this business until 1 866, when he sold out and became a director in the 
Bridge Company, in which he had become a holder of considerable stock. After- 
wards he was elected president of the company, and following that (in 1877) 



104 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

he became secretary and treasurer, which positions he held until the bridge was 
sold to the state, in ! 889. In 1 890 the Bridge Company wound up its affairs, 
and since that time Mr. Martin had lived in retirement, his city residence being 
at 1 20 Windsor avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, and his summer residence at 
Middlefield, Massachusetts, where he had a beautiful resort, situated two 
thousand feet above sea level, and which he styled "Among the Clouds." 

Mr. Martin's first duties in connection with the bridge began in 1 834, 
and consisted of trimming and filling the lamps every morning of the seven days 
in the week, and then gomg through the bridge each evening and lighting them 
by means of a torch. For these labors he received fifty cents a week. But 
when the bridge was sold to the state, he was owner of the largest number of 
shares. 

After such a long and successful life, coupled with unusually good health, 
with his faculties all keen and bright, it \vas earnestly hoped that he would live 
to take part in the ceremonies of dedication of the beautiful new bridge which 
replaces the historic one with which he was so long associated; but on Saturday 
morning. May 30, 1908, at 5 o'clock, he complained of pains around the 
heart and almost immediatelj' expired, having attained the age of eighty- 
nine years and nine months; and on the afternoon of Monday, June 1, he was 
laid at rest in Spring Grove Cemetery. 

Not long before his death a beautiful incident took place in the South 
Baptist Church, of which he was a member, when he was publicly congratu- 
lated upon the completion of seventy years of connection with that Society. 



105 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




WILLIAM FRANKLIN HENNEY. 
Mayor of Hartford froni 1904 to 1908, 



106 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



WILLIAM FRANKLIN HENNEY 

\ ^ -^WICE elected Mayor of Hartford, (1904-1906. and 1906-1908), 
# ^ j was born in Enfield, Connecticut, November 2, 1852, son of John 
^^^^ Henney and Mene Barclay Henney, who were born in Scotland and 
came to this country some seventy-seven years ago and settled in Connecticut. 
From Enfield the family went to Iowa and thence to Windham and from thence 
to Hartford, where Mr. Henney was educated in the public schools, graduating 
from the Hartford Public High School. He then took up a collegiate course at 
Princeton, graduatmg m 1874, and studied law with the late Henry C. Rob- 
inson; and was admitted to the bar in 1876, rising rapidly in his chosen pro- 
fession until he ranks today as one of the ablest members of the Hartford 
County Bar. 

In 1 904 Mr. Henney was chosen as the Republican nominee for the 
mayoralty of Hartford, and led his party to a glorious victory after a fiercely 
waged campaign, winning by a fine majority. 

As Mayor of Hartford, Mr. Henney immediately won the respect and 
confidence of his fellow-citizens by his wise, conservative and firm ideas of 
finance and economy, and it was because of these solid reasons that he was 
elected for a second term, and could have had a third term had he shown a 
willingness to accept it. 

As executive of the municipality he also won an enviable reputation as 
a courteous and dignified representative of his fellow-citizens on all social and 
public occasions, and his writings and addresses were but a continuous demon- 
stration of ability and loyalty. 

By virtue of his office, as well as of his friendships, he also enjoyed the 
distinctive honor of presiding at the laying of the cornerstone of the new bridge 
(April 16, 1904), and again at the setting of the last stone, on the 19th of 
August, 1907, wielding the beautiful trowel which may be seen in the Mayor's 
office in the City Hall. 

As a lawyer Mr. Henney has built up an extensive and influential clientage, 
which has come to him because of his high character and legal attainments, 
coupled with a keen sense of conscientious responsibility. 

Mr. Henney is a past worshipful master of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, 
F. and A. M., of Hartford. 



107 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



MORGAN GARDNER BULKELEY 

^^l^^-^HE name of Bulkeley occupies an honored place in the annals of our 
■ ^ J colony. State and city, as well as in those of New England and our 
^^^^^ country at large. 

Peter Bulkeley was born in England, in 1 583, and succeeded his father 
in the ministry at Woodhull, but was afterwards removed for non-conformity. 
In 1635, in company with a number of friends, he founded the settlement at 
Concord, Mass., and was its first minister. He died in 1659, after a life of 
great usefulness. 

His son, the Rev. and Hon. Gershom Bulkeley, a leading character in 
our colonial history, married the daughter of President Chauncy of Harvard 
College. Their third child and eldest son, John Bulkeley, born in Colchester, 
April 19, 1705, was graduated from Yale College in 1726. He practiced 
law and medicine in his native town, and during the forty-eight years of his 
life held a great number of public offices. For thirty-one sessions he was a 
member of the General Assembly, a member of the council, judge of the 
Superior Court, and colonel of the Twelfth Regiment of the Militia. 

His grandson, Eliphalet, was father of John Charles Bulkeley, of Col- 
, Chester, and grandfather of Eliphalet A. Bulkeley, who was one of the lead- 
ing citizens of Connecticut. The latter studied law and became interested in 
finance and politics, was one of the founders of the Republican party in Con- 
necticut and its first speaker in the House of Representatives (1857). He 
organized both the Connecticut Mutual and Aetna Life Insurance Companies, 
being president of the latter at the time of his death, in 1872. 

His son, Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, was born in the town of East 
Haddam, on December 26, 1837. He removed with his father to Hartford, 
in 1846, and obtained his education in the district schools and the Hartford 
High School. His beginnings in life were of a humble nature, as the first posi- 
tion he held was that of an errand boy in a mercantile house in Brooklyn, New 
York. This was in 1852, and his progress was rapid, for in a short time 
he was confidential clerk, and in a few years a partner in the concern. When 
the Civil War opened Mr. Bulkeley enlisted in the Thirteenth New York Regi- 
ment, and was at the front under General McClellan during the Peninsular 
campaign, serving under General Mansfield and Gen. Ma.x Webber. 

Eliphalet A. Bulkeley died in 1872, and his son, Morgan G. Bulkeley, 
then returned and settled in Hartford. He immediately entered into the finan- 
cial and social life of the city, and became one of the most prominent men 

109 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

in Hartford. To the founding of the United States Bank he gave much time 
and labor, and was its first president. Upon the retirement of Thomas O. Enders 
from the presidency of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, Mr. Bulkeley 
was elected as his successor, thus becoming its third president. As a financier 
he always had an enviable reputation, and is a director in many successful 
corporations. The wonderful success of the Aetna Life Insurance Company 
may be attributed in no small degree to Mr. Bulkeley's rare business ability, 
both as a manager and financier. 

Soon after his return to Hartford he began to take a keen interest in local 
politics. During the early seventies Mr. Bulkeley was a councilman and alder- 
man from the fourth ward, and in 1 880 was elected mayor of Hartford. He 
became so popular in this office that he was re-elected three times, thus serving 
four terms, from 1 880 to 1 888. 

While mayor, he exercised his best ability to transact the business of the 
city in an economical manner, and was the fearless exponent of measures which 
he thought to be for the best interests of the city, irrespective of partisan feeling. 
Among the poorer classes he has always been very liberal with his fortune, 
and it is said that while mayor of Hartford, Mr. Bulkeley gave away every 
year more than he received as his salary. His administration as mayor was 
so successful that his friends thought him a desirable candidate for governor. 
In 1 886 Mr. Bulkeley's name was presented to the Republican State Con- 
vention, but the enthusiasm over Phineas C. Lounsbury was so great that, solely 
in the interest of good feeling, the former withdrew from the gubernatorial con- 
test. He supported Mr. Lounsbury in the campaign that followed, and in 
1 888 was nominated by acclamation for governor of the state amid great 
enthusiasm. Mr. Bulkeley was elected, and took his seat January 10, 1889. 
General Merwin was nominated in the fall of 1 890, and at the election which 
followed, the first under the present secret ballot law, the result showed such 
a close vote that there was considerable doubt as to who was elected. 
The returns were not accepted by the officials as conclusive, or by the House 
of Representatives. A long, dreary contest followed, and as the General 
Assembly failed to settle the question of gubernatorial succession. Governor 
Bulkeley, acting under the constitution, remained in office and exercised the 
duties of governor for the next two years, during which period no appropriations 
were voted for the maintenance of the institutions of the State or for meeting 
the imperative requirements of the treasury. At this crisis the Aetna Life 
Insurance Company, through its President, Governor Bulkeley, volunteered 
to furnish all the money needed to meet every legitimate bill. Instructions were 
issued in regard to the method of making disbursements and keeping the 
accounts. The next General Assembly, by public act, repaid the company 

110 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

in full without disallowance of an item. He retired from the governorship 
when his successor was duly elected and inducted into office, in 1893. 

Having previously, on two occasions, advised his friends in the General 
Assembly to advocate the election of General Joseph R. Hawley to the United 
States Senate, in the fall of 1904 Governor Bulkeley, on the withdrawal of 
General Hawley, entered the field with the view of securing the senatorial office 
if possible, and came out victorious, and is now (1908) the senior senator 
from Connecticut. His speech of acceptance uttered in the hall of the House 
of Representatives was one of the most appropriate and eloquent efforts heard 
by a Connecticut General Assembly in many years. Governor Bulkeley is 
still a resident of Hartford, where he is honored as one of the foremost men of 
the city. 

In 1 885 Mr. Bulkeley married Miss Fannie Briggs Houghton. They 
have three children: Morgan Gardner, Jr., Elinor Houghton, and Houghton 
Bulkeley. He is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati; Massachusetts 
Commandery of the Loyal Legion ; Robert O. Tyler Post, G. A. R. ; hereditary 
member of the Sons of the Revolution ; Connecticut Society of the War of 
1812; Colonial War Society; Connecticut Historical Society; the University 
Club of New York City, of which he is the survivor of the only two honorary 
members ever admitted to the club; and many other fraternal, patriotic and 
learned societies of the country. He is also president of the Commission on 
Improvements of the State Capitol. 

A pleasing characteristic of Mr. Bulkeley is his love for the children 
and his desire to see them lake pleasure, and especially to have them take part 
in public celebrations. When he was Mayor of Hartford it was by his kind- 
ness and through his initiative that many free excursions on the river and free 
picnics were given for their benefit. And on July 4, 1883, the school children 
were assembled in front of the State Capitol by his generosity and arrangement, 
and held patriotic exercises. That was twenty-five years ago. Today those 
children are men and women engaged in the activities and responsibilities 
of life, many of them being married and having families. And it is safe to say 
that when they hear or read the name of Morgan G. Bulkeley they look back 
with pleasure and gratitude to that red-letter day of their childhood. And 
now, a quarter of a century later, the same Mayor (now United States Senator) 
Bulkeley proposes to have ten thousand school children of Greater Hartford 
take a prominent part in the dedication of that great public improvement which 
is but the consummation and result of his public-spirited enterprise. Thus, though 
the great bridge will in a sense be a monument, he will enjoy a more beautiful 
memorial in the hearts of those thousands of little ones who but a few years 
hence must take up the city's affairs and assume its responsibilities. 

ni 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

In 1895, when the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District 
was created by act of the General Assembly, Mr. Bulkeley was made a member 
of the Commission and was immediately elected president of the board, and has 
always stood out strongly for the best and most enduring structure that could 
possibly be built. It was largely through his influence, and the labors of Mr. 
Lewis Sperry, member of and legal counsel for the commission, that permission 
was secured from the United States Government to build a solid bridge without 
a draw. And it is owing to his determination and loyalty to the best interests 
of the city that today we have one of the most beautiful stone bridges in the 
world and one that will last practically forever. 



112 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




LEWIS SPERRY 

HEWIS SPERRY was born at East Windsor Hill, Connecticut, Town 
of South Windsor, January 23, 1848. His father was Daniel 
Gilbert Sperry and his mother Harriet Frances Pelton. He grad- 
uated from Monson Academy in the class of '69, and from Amherst College 
in the class of 1873. Upon graduating from college he entered the law office 
of Waldo, Hubbard & Hyde, of Hartford, and was admitted to the bar in 
March, 1875. In 1876 he was a member of the Legislature, representing his 
native town, and was Chairman of the Committee on Education. 

From 1876 to 1895 he was associated with the late Lieutenant-Gov- 
enor George G. Sill, and practised law. In 1 896 the firm of Sperry & 
McLean was formed, of which Mr. Sperry was the senior member. The 
firm at that time consisted of Mr. Sperry, Hon. George P. McLean, 
and Austin Brainard. Mr. Brainard retired from the firm in 1900, and the 
partnership has since continued in the name of Sperry & McLean. Mr. Sperry 



113 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

was appointed coroner for Hartford County when the present coroner law was 
first enacted in 1 880, and continued to hold the office until about the time 
he was elected to Congress, in the fall of I 890. Mr. Sperry was a Member of 
Congress, representing Hartford District, from March 4, 1 890, to March 4, 
1895. In his first campaign for Congress he defeated former Congressman 
William E. Simonds, and in his second campaign for Congress he defeated 
E. Stevens Henry, but in the campaign of 1894, Mr. Henry defeated 
Mr. Sperry, and has remained in Congress ever since. 

Mr. Sperry has been in active practice of law since he was first admitted to 
the bar in 1875, and has appeared in many important cases. He appeared for 
the Town of South Windsor when the Hartford toll bridge was condemned in 
1887, and after the bridge was condemned and the Board of Commissioners 
was organized, consisting of the first selectmen of the five towns making up 
the Bridge District, he was counsel for the Board of Commissioners. When 
the present Board of Commissioners was organized, under the Act approved 
June 28, 1895, Mr. Sperry was appointed Commissioner, representing his native 
town of South Windsor, on the Board of Commissioners for The Connecticut 
River Bridge and Highway District, since which time he has been successively 
elected by the Town of South Windsor, so that it may be said he has been 
directly and prominently identified with the establishment of the new bridge 
from the time the first action was taken in 1887, to condemn the old bridge, 
up to the time of the completion of the new bridge. As the bridge was first 
planned, it provided for a steel draw at the west end of the bridge, between 
the west abutment and the first pier. In February, 1905, Mr. Sperry went to 
Washington and succeeded in having a bill passed abolishing the draw, and as 
soon as that was accomplished the plans of the bridge were changed so as to 
allow a solid stone structure from one bank to the other. Mr. Sperry is Vice- 
President of the Bridge Commission, and also its legal counsel. 



14 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




JAMES WOODBRIDGE CHENEY 

^TH"^HEN the name Cheney is heard or read, particularly in Connecticut, 
^ ■ ^ our thoughts are instantly diverted to Manchester and the great silk 
V H ^ industry located there; and it is a member of that old, honorable, en- 
terprising, successful and liberal New England family who represents his native 
town on the Bridge Commission, having served as its secretary since the Com- 
mission was first appointed, a period of thirteen years. 

Mr. Cheney was born in Manchester, Connecticut, February 9, 1 838, 
and received his education in the public schools of that town, for which the 
great family of Cheney have done so much, not only for the education of 
children, but also for the first practical training of normal school graduates 
and students. Nor have the schools alone been the beneficiaries of the lib- 
erality of this broadly democratic and public-spirited family. For it is through 
their fair and equitable business methods and their liberal enterprise in public 
works that the town of Manchester as a whole ranks as one of the largest 



115 



CROSSING. THE CONNECTICUT 

towns in America, and, by population, might at once become a city if it so 
desired; and that the village of South Manchester stands today as the most 
beautiful and best equipped rural community in our land. 

In business Mr. Cheney naturally allied himself with that great industry 
which has made his family name known throughout the world, and has long been 
a director in that great company, the Cheney Brothers. He has also been 
for the past thirteen years a member of the Board of Directors of the Connec- 
ticut State Prison, and is now its president. In 1871 he represented Man- 
chester in the Connecticut General Assembly. He is a past worshipful 
master of Manchester Lodge, F. and A. M., and a member of the Connec- 
ticut Society of Sons of the Revolution. 

Mr. Cheney is married, his wife being Harriet E. Cheney, and they have 
two children, a son and a daughter. 

Politically, Mr. Cheney is a zealous Republican, and was associated 
with Charles H. Arnold and the late Maro S. Chapman on the Republican 
town committee of Manchester for nearly thirty-five years. He has also 
represented his town in the various conventions of the party — State, Senatorial, 
County, and Congressional — during the past fifty years. 

At present (1908) Mr. Cheney is very much interested in the accu- 
mulation of funds for a monument to the memory of Henry Clay Work, author 
of "Marching through Georgia" and other popular songs of the Civil War, 
and is treasurer of the association, which proposes to place the memorial either 
over Mr. Work's grave in Spring Grove Cemetery or in one of the public 
parks of Hartford. 

As a delegate from the First Congressional District to the National 
Republican Convention at St. Louis in 1896, Mr. Cheney was an ardent sup- 
porter of Wm. McKinley for the office of President. 



16 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




m 



MEIGS H. WHAPLES 

'R. WHAPLES was born in New Britain July 16. 1845, educated 
in the public schools there, graduating from the New Britain High 
School, and later from the Commercial Collegiate Institute of Pough- 
keepsie, N. Y. Upon entering business life he soon became teller of the New 
Britain National Bank, which position he held in 1 862-3. He then accepted a 
position as teller of the Mercantile National Bank of Hartford, serving that in- 
stitution from 1863 to 1869, when he entered the United States Navy, serving 
first on the staff of Rear Admiral Oliver S. Glisson, and later on that of Admiral 
Charles S. Boggs. He was also adjutant of the First Regiment, Connecticut 
National Guard, from 1866 to 1868. In 1872 he entered the employment 
of the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company as teller, and was elected 
its president in 1878. 

Mr. Whaples is a director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 
Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Stanley Rule & Level Company 
of New Britain, Pickering Governor Company of Portland, and of the Board 
of Trade of Hartford; also a trustee of the Society for Savings of Hartford, 

117 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

and of the Scottish Union and National Fire Insurance Company. He is 
treasurer and secretary of the ColHns Company, and was one of the first mem- 
bers of the Board of Finance of the City of Hartford. He is also President 
of the Hartford Golf Club. Mr. Whaples is married and has two children. 
As a member of the Bridge Commission, representing the City of Hart- 
ford, Mr. Whaples has served as treasurer of the Commission since its creation. 



I 



118 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




fi 



FRANK CHESTER SUMNER 

'RANK CHESTER SUMNER, who was made a member of the 
Bridge Commission in 1 899, filling the vacancy caused by the death 
of Senator John H. Hall of Hartford, is an honored and successful 
citizen. He was born in Canton, June 8, 1850. His father was John W. 
Sumner, a man of decided merit and character. George G. Sumner, Mayor 
of Hartford in 1878 and Lieutenant Governor in 1883, was the brother of 
Commissioner Sumner. The family has been prominent in business and pro- 
fessional life for a long period. Commissioner Sumner was educated in the 
common schools of Bolton and at the Hartford Public High School. At 
the age of 1 7 he entered the employ of the Hartford Trust Company under 
Hon. Charles M. Pond, and has steadily advanced in the company's service, 
holding at the present time the position of treasurer. He is a trustee of the 
Mechanics Savings Bank and a director of the Gray Telephone Pay Station 
Company. He has been a member of the State Prison Board of Directors 

119 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

since 1893, receiving the appointment from Governor Morris. He was ap- 
pointed a member of the Commission for the Location of Boundary Lines between 
Connecticut and Massachusetts in 1905, being selected by Governor Roberts. 
He has been Jury Commissioner for Hartford County since the law was 
enacted. He was a member of the Hartford Board of Health for twelve 
years, and is at present a member of the Board of Water Commissioners, re- 
ceiving reappointment from Mayor Hooker in April. Commissioner Sumner 
was actively interested in the East Side school work for years, and was a member 
of the Brown School District Committee. The Hartford Trust Company, 
of which he is Treasurer, is Treasurer of the District. He has lived in Hart- 
ford 40 years, aqd is one of the city's most respected representatives. 



120 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 





JOHN G. ROOT 

^ J'OHN G. ROOT was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, April 20. 

O I 1835. He came to Hartford in 1855, and has resided in this city 
^^ ^ ^.^ ^ continuously since that time. His first financial experience was with 
the old Bank of Hartford County, now the American National Bank, with 
which he was first officially connected as cashier, being elected to that position 
in 1871, and retaining it until 1883, when he was chosen president of the 
Farmers and Mechanics National Bank, which relation still continues. He 
was for a time treasurer of the Hartford Trust Company. He is one of the 
trustees of the Mechanics Savings Bank, and a director in several other cor- 
porations, and prominently connected with civic and military organizations in 
Hartford. During the War of the Rebellion (1861-65) he held the rank 
of captain in the Twenty-second Connecticut regiment, and is now an honored 
member of Robert O. Tyler Post of the Grand Army, and a trustee of the 
Post fund. He is connected with the highest orders of the Masonic fraternity 
in the State, and has held the office of Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge 

121 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

for a number of years. He has been a member of the First Company, Gov- 
ernor's Foot Guard, and is an influential member of the Veteran Association. 

In all these positions of civil and military comradeship he has been the 
ideal representative of good feelmg and manlmess. He was elected to the 
mayoralty of Hartford m 1 888, and proved himself an able and conscientious 
chief magistrate of the municipality. His administration was one of marked 
success, and the review of his career as mayor increases the great public respect 
which has been felt for him since his residence in the city. His uprightness 
of character and frankness of intercourse with men secure for him the con- 
fidence and esteem of his townsmen in a very eminent degree. Thus it was 
fitting that he should have been one of the four citizens selected to represent 
Hartford on the Bridge Commission. 



122 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




CHARLES W. ROBERTS 




R. Roberts was born in East Hartford, May 30, 1840, and is 
a descendant of one of the oldest colonial families of Connecticut. 
The name of Roberts has been a prominent one in East Hartford 
ever since that territory was set off as a town by itself — in 1 783. In his 
early years Mr. Roberts, in company with his brothers, conducted an extensive 
business in market gardening, then began raising tobacco, and was for many 
years an expert tobacco buyer, but is now retired from active business. 

In public and town affairs Mr. Roberts has always taken an active 
interest; and his thorough general education, practically acquired, has made 
him a popular, trusted and respected citizen, as his official record shows. In 
1872 he was elected first selectman, and served until 1878, when he was 
made town auditor, and then served as town treasurer in I 888 and 1 889, when he 
was again elected selectman and served for six years more. He was elected 
as representative to the General Assembly in the sessions of 1882, 1887 and 
1895, and, upon the establishment of the town court, was made prosecuting 



123 



CROSSING. THE CONNECTICUT 

attorney, serving until 1907. When Mr. Roberts was representing East Hartford 
in the Legislature of 1887, the subject of freeing the bridge first came up, and 
thus he was "in at the start," advocating the bill in the interests of his constituents; 
and when it was passed he was, by its terms and by virtue of his office as first 
selectman of East Hartford, made a member of the first Commission, which con- 
sisted of the first selectman of each of the towns of Hartford, East Hartford, 
South Windsor, Manchester and Glastonbury, and was also made Superinten- 
dent of the Bridge, which underwent extensive repairs under his supervision. 
In 1893, when the state took complete control, Mr. Roberts was one of the 
three men appointed by the Legislature to have charge of the bridge. And 
in 1895, when the act was passed creating the Connecticut River Bridge and 
Highway District, Mr. Roberts was again made a Commissioner on the part 
of East Hartford. Thus, in point of actual service, he may well be styled the 
"grand old man" of the free bridge. 



124 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




ALEMBERT O. CROSBY 




'LEMBERT O. CROSBY was born in Glastonbury, April 24, 1848. 
He received his education in the public schools of his native town, 
and in the Wilbraham Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., from which he 
graduated in 1 866. His father, Edwin, who was a cotton and woolen manu- 
facturer, wished his son to become a practical man at the same business, and 
accordingly the latter began as a mill hand in Windsor, Connecticut, going from 
there, successively, to Meriden, Waterbury and Rockville, thus gaining a practical 
experience that enabled him to return to East Glastonbury and enter into the 
business with his father in 1876. 

He was elected as a Representative from Glastonbury to the Legislature 
of 1891, and again as a State Senator to the Session of 1895, when he was 
appointed a Commissioner of the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway Dis- 
trict, which was created by legislative action at that session, and has represented 
Glastonbury on the Commission since that time to the present. 



125 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




EDWIN DWIGHT GRAVES. 
Chief Engineer of the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District, 



126 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



EDWIN DWIGHT GRAVES 

[Hartford Times. Nov. 29, 1907.] 

^t~W'^rHEN the great stone bridge across the Connecticut River is seen by the 
^ ■ ^ proud citizens of the state, they will do well to remember that the beauty 
V ^ ^ and symmetry of the great structure is in a large measure due to the 
ability of Edwin Dwight Graves, who, until ill health necessitated his retirement, 
was the chief engineer for the Bridge Commission. It was Mr. Graves who pre- 
pared the first plans for the bridge as it has been built. Unfortunately his mind 
gave way under the strain, and he never will be able to appreciate the comple- 
tion of the great work. 

"Edwin Dwight Graves was born October 5, 1865, at Orono, Me., the 
son of Perez and Abbie Colburn Graves. He was a descendant of Thomas 
Graves, who settled in Hartford in 1645, and who died in 1662 at Hatfield, 
Mass., to which town he had removed the year before. Isaac, the oldest son 
of Thomas, from whom Edwin D. Graves was descended, was one of the promi- 
nent men of Hatfield, and was killed in the Indian attack on the settlement, 
September 19, 1677. 

"Mr. Graves was educated in the public schools of Orono, and then took 
a course in civil engineering at the University of Maine, which is located at 
Orono, from which institution he was graduated in 1 886. He then began work 
in railroad construction in his native state, and became chief engineer of the 
Somerset Railroad the same year. He held that office until 1 890, and late 
that year moved to Connecticut, where his ancestors had lived almost 250 years 
earlier. After coming to Connecticut, Mr. Graves devoted himself to the 
specialty of bridge building, and designed the bridge crossing the Connecticut 
River at Thompsonville ; and he also designed and built the bridge over the 
Connecticut at Middletown, which is said to have the longest draw span operated 
by electricity in the country. He also built a bridge crossing the Connecticut 
River at White River Junction, V'^t. He had charge of the construction of 
many steel frame buildings in New York. 

"On October 6, 1 890, Mr. Graves married Maybelle Parlin, daughter 
of the late J. J. and Sarah B. Parlin of North Anson, Me., and he has two 
children, Margaret E. and Justin D. Graves. Mr. Graves is a member of the 
American Society of Civil Engineers, and of the Connecticut Society of Civil 
Engineers, of which he has been president. He was also a member of the 
Engineers' Club of New York, the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, the In- 

127 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

ternational Association for Testing Materials, the Hartford Club, the Repub- 
lican Club, The Hartford Golf Club, the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity 
and the Connecticut Commandery, Military Order of Foreign Wars." 

He came to Hartford from Middletown in 1 896, after the burning of 
the old wooden bridge. May 17, 1895. He planned all the East Hartford 
causeway work and the approaches to the bridge on the west side, besides the 
bridge itself, and the whole undertaking required a great deal of foresight and 
an immense amount of work, under the great stram of which his mind gave way 
in January, 1 906, since which time he has been completely incapacitated. 



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CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




JOHN THOMAS HENDERSON 

I'OHN THOMAS HENDERSON was born March 19, 1876, 

^ I near Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland, the son of William Cyrus 
^^^^^ and Annabel (Smith) Henderson. He received his education in 
the public schools of Cecil County, and in the fall of 1 892 entered Delaware 
College, graduatmg therefrom, in the class of civil engineering, in 1 896. He 
then spent two years in the study of bridges and bridge building, afterwards 
entering the office of the consulting engineer of the Manhattan Elevated Rail- 
way Company of New York. He also worked as draftsman for the late 
William Rich Hutton, and then entered the employ of the Connecticut River 
Bridge and Highway District, beginning service on June I, 1898, as drafts- 
man. 

While in the latter position, and under the direction of Edwin D. Graves 
as consulting engineer, Mr. Henderson designed several bridges for the Green- 
wich and Johnsonville Railway Company of New York City; also one across 



129 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

the Penobscot River at Bangor, Me., and a suspension foot-bridge across the 
Kennebec River at Waterville, Me. He acted as chief draftsman on all of 
the preliminary studies for the bridge across the Connecticut River at Hart- 
ford, and as chief draftsman and assistant engineer on the present stone bridge 
until the impairment of the health of Chief Engineer Graves compelled the latter 
to relinquish many of the duties of his office. May 28, 1 906, — when Mr. 
Henderson was appointed Deputy Chief Engineer by the Commission, which 
position he now holds. 

Thus, at 32 years of age, well prepared and equipped, Mr. Henderson 
met a great opportunity as well as a great responsibility, seizing the one with 
intelligence and appreciation, and fulfilling the other with great ability, and 
fidelity to his chief and to the Commission. 

Mr. Henderson was elected an associate member of the American Society 
of Civil Engineers, September 3, 1902, and to active membership in that 
organization September 3, 1907. He is also a member of the Connecticut 
Society of Civil Engineers, the Hartford Golf Club, and of all of the Masonic 
bodies up to and including the 32d degree; and is a member of Sphinx Temple 
of the Mystic Shrine. 

Mr. Henderson was married in December, 1905, to Maude Helen Keeney, 
daughter of Frank and Emma (Bidwell) Keeney, of Rockville, Conn. 



130 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




e 



EDWARD WALLACE BUSH 

'DWARD WALLACE BUSH was born at Port Jervis. N. Y., 
in 1871, and came to Hartford in 1898 as assistant engineer of 
the Connecticut River Bridge and Highway District, and has been 
the engineer in immediate charge of the construction of the bridge and east and 
west approaches. He was graduated from the Pennsylvania State College 
in 1892, in civil engineering, with the degree of B.S., and of C.E. in 1897. 
In engineering work he has been connected, either as assistant engineer 
or engineer in charge of construction, as follows: Additional water supply 
for New London and Waterbury, Connecticut, and Cleveland, N. Y. ; sewer 
construction at Rome, N. Y. ; river bridge at Middletown, Connecticut, and sev- 
eral bridges in the Province of Quebec, Canada. 

Mr. Bush is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the 
New England Water Works Association, and the Connecticut Society of Civil 
Engineers, serving the latter society as president during the current year (1908). 



131 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




EDWARD WILLIAMS HOOKER. 
Present Mayor of Hartford, 1908-1910. 



132 



el 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



EDWARD WILLIAMS HOOKER 

•DWARD W. HOOKER was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on 
October 19th, 1865. On his father's side he is a direct descend- 
ant from the Rev. Thomas Hooker (seventh generation), the first 
settler of Hartford, who came here with a party of about 1 00 from Newtown 
(Cambridge), Massachusetts, in 1636. His mother was Martha Hunting- 
ton Williams, and through her he is a descendant from the Williams family 
who settled in Lebanon, Connecticut, early in the seventeenth century, one of 
whom, William Williams, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

Mr. Hooker has always lived in Hartford and attended the district 
schools, and graduated from the Hartford Public High School in 1885. He 
went to work in the mill of the Broad Brook Company, of which his father 
was treasurer and general manager for forty years. He learned the various 
trades in connection with woolen manufacture, and is now a practical wool 
sorter, carder, spinner, weaver, designer, and in fact has all the trades that 
are necessary to operate the various departments of a woolen mill. He was 
connected with this business for ten years, until it was sold to the present owners, 
Ogden & Brook, Mr. Brook coming here from Hudensfield, England. 

After the sale of the business Mr. Hooker was secretary and treasurer of the 
Perkins Electric Switch Manufacturing Company for four years, and then formed 
an insurance partnership with William R. Penrose. This firm conducts a 
general fire insurance business. 

In 1 889 Mr. Hooker married Mary Mather Turner, daughter of Dr. 
Charles P. Turner, and granddaughter of the late Roland Mather of Hartford. 
They have two children, Rosalie, and Roland Mather Hooker. 

In 1896 Mr. Hooker was elected as Representative from Hartford to 
the General Assembly. He was appointed chairman of the Banking Com- 
mittee, which had many important measures come before it for their consider- 
ation. For a number of years he has been Chairman of the Busmess Com- 
mittee of the First Church, and is also connected with the Hartford Hospital, 
the Hartford Theological Seminary, and other educational and benevolent 
institutions. 

He was elected Mayor of Hartford in April, 1 908. He is a member 
of Company F, First Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, and was major 
of the Veteran Battalion of the City Guard. He is now captain and quar- 
termaster on the staff of the Governor's Foot Guard. 



133 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




ALFRED P. BOLLER 




'LFRED P. BOLLER, consulting engineer of the Connecticut River 
Bridge and Highway District, was born in Philadelphia in 1 840. He 
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he 
received the degree of A.M. in 1858. He is also a graduate of the famous 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, from which he received his degree of 
civil engineer in 1861. 

Since leaving the Rensselaer Institute he has been in the continuous prac- 
tice of his profession to the present time, starting as usual in the lower ranks, 
and finally as chief engineer, contracting engineer, or consulting engineer, has 
been identified with various important works in the United States and foreign 
countries, that would make a very long list to enumerate. He is senior member 
of the engineering firm of Boiler & Hodge, of No. 1 Nassau Street, New York, 
one of the oldest and most widely known firms in the country, in all phases 
of structural and foundation work. 



134 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




S^mmi: 




EDMUND M. WHEELWRIGHT 




R. WHEELWRIGHT was born in Roxbury. Mass.. September 14. 
1854. He is a graduate of Harvard College, in the class of 1876, 
receiving the degree of A.B. He is a member of the firm of 
Wheelwright & Haven, of Boston, and was City Architect of Boston, 1891- 
1895. Mr. Wheelwright is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, 
and of the Boston Society of Architects. 

His principal architectural works are: Operating building and outpatients 
building of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; south department, 
pathological building and nurses' home of the Boston City Hospital; twenty-two 
schools for the City of Boston, among them being the Mechanic Arts High 
School, Brighton High School, and the Bowdoin and Farragut Schools. Also 
Randall Hall, Harvard College; and the buildings for the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society and for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



135 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Mr. Wheelwright was also consulting architect for the Cambridge Bridge, 
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

As consulting architect in the building of Hartford Bridge, Mr. Wheel- 
wright has contributed the valuable assistance of native ability, finished educa- 
tion, sound judgment, and a broad experience in similar works of great magni- 
tude which alone could fit a man to render advice that would be necessary in 
such an extensive and important undertaking. 



136 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




The ancient and original Charter of the Colony of Con- 
necticut. — The old "Bill of Rights." — Granted by 
King Charles II, of England, April 23, 1852. — May 
be seeq iq the State Library, 



137 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE OLD CHARTER, AND THE OAK TREE IN 
WHICH IT WAS HIDDEN 

^S^^^HE oft-told story of the seizing and hiding of that precious and 
■ ^ J venerable document, the old charter or "bill of rights," when the 
^^^^/ King's agent, Sir Edmund Andros, came to Hartford and sought 
to recall it in the name of His Majesty James II, is ever new and interesting 
to the young minds that, generation after generation, are being trained and 
prepared for the duties of American citizenship. 




New State Library, now iq course of construction. 

The following account of it is from the pen of the late Charles J. Hoadly, 
State Librarian for thirty years, and a high authority: — 

On the 14lh of March, 1661, the Geneial Court of Connecticut voted to petition 
the king for the continuance and confirmation of such privileges and liberties as were 
necessary for the comfortable and peaceable settlement of the Colony. 

Governor Winthrop was requested to act as the agent for the Colony. He sailed 
from New York in July, 1661. The letter of credit for £500 sterling, which he took with 
him, may be seen in the State Library. The amount was paid in wheat and pease. He 
succeeded in procuring a very liberal charter, which bears date April 23d, 1662. 

The charter was made in duplicate and sent in different ships. The duplicate 
probably arrived first, and was received in Connecticut in September, 1662. There are 
some trifling verbal differences between them, not, however, affecting the sense. 

In 1687 it became evident that the Colony was likely to be deprived of the charter, 
and measures were taken accordingly. There is a very curious entry on the Colonial 

138 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



Records in June, 1687, of the production of the (original) charter in court, and of its 
being left on the table wilh the key in the box at the adjournment of the Court, with no 
one responsible for lis safety, the committee which had been appointed to keep it being 
discharged by iheir surrendry of it to the Court. Perhaps it was at this time (hat the 
charter was quietly taken by Nathaniel Stanly and John Falcott, and concealed in the 
famous oak. 

On the 31st of October, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros came to Hartford to receive the 
surrender of the charter. The Assemblj' met and sat late at night. The duplicate charter 
was brought forth and placed on the table. Suddenly the lights were extinguished, and 
Captain Joseph Wadsworlh carried off and concealed the duplicate, which he retained until 
1715, when the Assembly made him a grant for his good service in the matter. The one 
more highly ornamented than the other, may be seen in t"ie Stale Library. What remains 




Old Coat-of-Arms, v^ith Mrs. Emily S. G. Holcombe's beautiful designatioq, 

'The Constitution State," inserted. — Also, the date (1638-9) of 

the "FLindamental Orders," or, the first writteq consti- 

tLitioq known among meq. 

of the second copy may be seen in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical Society at 
Hartford. How it was saved from being cut up to make the foundation of a bonnet 
is told in a note in Vol. 4 of the Colonial Records. 

The charter continued to be ihe basis of our government until it was superseded by 
the constitution of 1818. — C. J. Hoadly. 

[State Library, August, 1900.] 

The historic oak tree was located at a point that now forms the junction 
of Charter Oak Street and Charter Oak Place, in the southeastern section of 
the city. The old tree was blown down August 21, 1856, and the site is now 
marked by a beautiful monument. 

This charter may be said to have been an outgrowth of the "Funda- 
mental Orders" of 1638-9, which in turn is honored as being the first written 
constitution known among men. 

139 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




140 




CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BUSHNELL PARK 

[From the Forty-eighth Annual Report of the Board of Park Commissioners (1908).] 

LETTER from Rev. Doctor Horace Bushnell, written in his frank 
and clear manner, and sent to Donald G. Mitchell, the author, 
telling of the beginnings of Bushnell Park, was published in "Hearth 
and Home," February 6, 1869. 

This letter not only speaks of the early trials and struggles, but is also 
so full of faith and good cheer, it cannot help give courage and strength to 
those who are now striving to have the public do that which is for its own 
advantage and good. That such may have the helpfulness of Doctor Bush- 
nell's indomitable spirit and clear-sightedness, and also that it may have a 
permanent place in the records and archives of this office, it is published in this 
report: — 

HEARTH AND HOME— FEBRUARY 6, 1869. 
, Hartford Park. 

By Rev. Horace Bushnell, D.D. 

Donald C. Mitchell, Esq. 

Dear Sir: — You request of me for Hearth and Home a brief history of our Hartford 
Park, and especially of the manner in which it was estabHshed. And you ask it of me, 
I suppose, because I am known to have been largely concerned in getting the improvement 
on foot. But the fact which directs you to me is, in truth, the only reason why I hesitate, 
because, having been at first the principal mover of the undertaking, it may be necessary 
to risk a considerable appearance of egotism. However, since you ask it as a help, or incen- 
tive to others engaged in a similar undertaking, and no one else was deep enough in the 
working element of the story to give it, I consent to encounter the risk, which it might be 
only sm affectation of delicacy to decline. 

The want of some spacious ornamental ground had been the common regret of Hart- 
ford citizens for many years; and as often as I expressed this regret, I had found a hearty 
response. Turning the question every way for an answer, I was drawn, by a kind of 
rejecting process as respects all other possibilities, to consider more and more fixedly the 
particular ground since occupied. There was, in fact, no other, unless we should take some 
distant field which would serve almost none of the required uses. Here, then, was the 
place, I concluded, else it must be nowhere. And it even seemed a fact most remarkable 
that we had a field so appropriate, reserved by its dishonor for a use so honorable, in the 
geographic centre of the town, after more thcin two centuries of occupancy; and the more 
remarkable that it was laid off in town lots at the very first settlement, one of which 
was taken up by the first secretary of the colony, and another by the first schoolmaster. 

This piece of ground was a little less than half a mile long, and comprised between 
thirty and forty acres, and the fine college-grounds adjacent, arranged to harmonize with 

141 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

the plan, would make up a virtual park range of fifty acres. On the whole, the amount of 
space obtamed would do very well for a small city, and being central, it would be taken 
care of and kept m constant use. 

Determined thus in the matter of locality, I had none the less been appalled by 
the godforsaken look of the premises. I very much regret that some photographic picture 
of their condition had not been taken, but even that could have given but a faint represen- 
tation of deformities the future ages will never know or conceive. The New-Haven Rail- 
road spanned the territory lengthwise, from end to end, having a deep cut under the 
colIege-hiU, and a high embankment through the low ground on the east, where it came 
to a full period in a huge, unsightly structure of wood standing astride of the river. 




Soldiers' and Sailors' 



^morial Arcl^i and Cornincj Foiintaiq 



Hartford, Connecticut. 



and serving as bridge, car-house, freight-house, and passenger-office. Two lines of higi 
grading, one from the west end and the other from the east, converged as curves, at a 
wooden-covered bridge, in front of the present station-house, on Asylum-street, sind made 
up a tricingle for backing off to Springfield and New-Haven. In the centre of the lot were 
ihe engine-house, the wood-work and non-work repair-shops, and back of the latter, on 
the east, was a deep gulf or hole, dyked in by (he embankment, into which the ashes 
and cinders were rolling; overhung also, on the embankment side, by a rough wood-shed, 
standing partly on legs, and having a high water-tank and pumping works on its 
eastern end; which said hole is now a pretty basin or lain, bordered neatly with turf for 
the great fountain. The waste and broken trumpery of tSe road were everywhere. And 
besides the great hole above named, there were two others mside the embankment triamgle. 



142 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

and sliil another dug out in the western slope of the hill-ground to obtain gravel for the 
dam of a huge old grist-mill standing on that border. Around the mill were grouped eight 
or ten low tenements, with as many pig-sties, that appeared to have dropped there by 
accident. On the north side, into the low bend of the river, as by common-law right, all 
the garbage and truck of the city were dumped as in a Gehenna without fire — shavings, 
leather-cuttings, cabbage-stumps, rags, hats without tops, old saddles, stove-pipes rusted 
out — everything, in short, that had no right to be anywhere else. There were besides on 
the premises two old tanneries — one falling to pieces, the other barely managing to stand upon 
a slant; and on a high clay-bank, just in front of the present Park-Row block, was a little 
African Methodist chapel, looking out for prospect on the general litter of the region. 
And, finally, there was a backside frontage of filthy tenements, including a soap-works, 
that ran completely round upon the east and north-east bank of the river, and projected their 
out-houses over it on brackets and piers — saying, as it were, to the coming ornament: We 
give you such help as we can. 

Forbidding as the picture was, I saw merit and capacity in the ground, and took up 
in earnest the question how to obtain it. The railroad company had already withdrawn to 
their new depot, and would be glad to get all their shops on that side of the river. So far 
the prospect was favorable. I then undertook, by such ways as would partly cover my 
intention — for if this were made public at the present stage of the question, defeat and 
explosive ridicule must end it — to sound some of the principal owners and find what 
terms could be obtained. The grist-mill could be bought for a reasonable price and, 
besides that and the railroad property, I could get no terms for anything. My effort was 
blocked, and nothing plainly could be done. 

At this point, I opened my project, as far as I must, to N. H. Morgan, Esq., and 
another gentleman of the then dominant political party, expressing the wish that some 
member of the Legislature could be induced, when amending our city charter, to slide in a 
provision allowing the city to take ground for a public park by appraisal, in the same 
way as ground is taken for railroads. And it happened, shortly after, by a curious (shall 
I say providential?) coincidence, that our City Council, balked in getting land for an 
improvement of so little consequence that it has not yet been made, were petitioning the 
Legislature for an amended charter, and that Mr. Morgan, then a member of the Council, 
was appointed to draught the petition; and he kindly included, in his article for taking 
land, the matter of a Park, as suggested. The desired provision was granted. As the 
amended charter must be accepted by a popular vote of the city, I was duly industrious 
with my friends for once — the first and last time — to carry, if possible, a question of 
popular suffrage. The charter was accepted; and now my scheme, thanks to the Council, 
and especially to Mr. Morgan, was made possible. 

Stimulated by the new law, two propositions were brought up forthwith in the Council — 
one for a park in the south end, and another for a park in the north end of the city — 
both rejected, of course. Now the time was come. I sent in a petition to the Council 
that they would hear me on a plan for a park in the centre of the city. They got wind 
easily of the place, and though receiving my petition with a little good-natured laughter, 
they allowed me personally a degree of consideration I had not much right to expect; they 
agreed to have an informal, extra-legal meeting, and hear me. 

I carried in a large map of the ground, with all the walks, drives, and fountains 
extemporized on it — a map which I now find, by comparison, corresponds more closely 
with the present outlines than could well have been expected — and hung it up in the 

143 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 






(^2€ 



144 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

Council-room. I then gave a running exposition of the plan, that occupied more than an hour. 
The stress of my endeavor was, to raise an imagination of the picture it would make, so 
different from the fillhy picture it then was; knowing well that, if the imagination was 
carried, the judgment would be. I took them on the high ground, in this manner, to look 
down the sloping lawns, round upon the city spires stemding guard in their places, and out, 
and through the street vistas opened here and there, on some of the fine frontages presented. 
I then passed round to look on the Park itself in full dress, through the same vistas inverted; 
making much here of the fact that our two railroads passed by together on a high bank 
just across the narrow river, so that all travelers and strangers, coming in or passing 
through, will look directly across ihe lawns and up the slopes of the College Hill, deriving 




7v 



■4 -"l^-'Ui: 

Bushnell Park iq Winter. 



thus their first and best possible impressions of the city. I did not omit, also, to speak 
of the wretched, filthy quarters shortly to be steaming here, if this improvement fails, and 
already giving notification to the city by smell, and not by beauty in the eye. I seemed, 
on the whole, to have made an impression quite as favorable as I expected. And probably it 
was in half persuaded feeling that one of the rather unilluminated fathers got heart for his 
gentle protestation, in passing out: "Why, it will cost ten thousand dollars! 

At the next regular session of the Council, the question was taken up, and a committee 
raised to report on the project, making estimates of the probable value of the properties con- 
cerned. The late D. F. Robinson, Esq., a public-spirited gentleman, favorable to all real 
improvements, was placed at the head of the committee. They attended promptly and 
carefully to their appointment, expending great labor in hunting up the boundaries, owner- 
ships, and lilies, and faithfully appraising the values of the thirty or forty properties. They 



145 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

made their unanimous report, November I4lh, 1853, m favor of the proposed improvement, 
placing, it must now be agreed, all future generations of the city under unspeakable obliga- 
tions for the service they freely rendered. They naturally called on me to ease them of a 
part of their labor, by writing out as much of their report as did not relate to the estimates. 

On the twenty-second of December following, the Council decided to proceed in laying 
off the Park, and, upon a day appointed, went upon the ground in a body, to make 
proclamation to the owners of their intended occupation. The question was then put to a vote, 
by a general ballot of the people, January 5th, 1854, and the plan was approved by a vote of 
nearly three to one. 

It now remained to get in the titles to the property, and as the matter was not pressed 
by the committee faster than matters of only public interest commonly are, I got the two 
principal contracts for the property — comprising more than half the general amount — made 
up for them, waiting only execution by them, in the forms of law; foreseeing that, when this 
was done — as it shortly was — the matter would be fastened, and must somehow go on to 
completion. 

Absent, after this, a great part of the time for two years, I found on my return, that 
nothing had been done to get in the other property. Having no right of action at any 
time, except as from behind committees, I was obliged to use some caution, lest I should 
lose that rather slender right, by making myself an annoyance; but I had an argument, 
pungent enough when quietly put, to set things in motion again: "Are you proposing to lose, 
for the city, the fifty or sixty thousand dollars already expended, or will you save it by 
going on to make it available?" Within about another year's time, all the properties were 
bought in by contract with the owners ; as, of course, they never could have been but for the 
new statute right of the charter by pressing them from behind. 

The result was, that the city now had a full right in fee in the new property. But, 
behold, the seeming advantage thus gained brought in shortly a new turn of pearl, putting the 
whole improvement in jeopardy, and requiring a new campaign to save it. A petition was 
brought into the Council, favored by a sectional influence, and by certain members in the 
body, always opposed to the Park, to have the whole property sold, as it could be at a good 
profit, and a smaller ground purchased on the historic hill of the Charter Oak. Again we 
had a rather tight conflict of two or three weeks in the public papers, and the pearl was 
broken. 

Next came the question of a plan, where a prize competition, offered by the Council, 
brought in eight or ten, for the judgment of the Plan Committee, of which I was a membsr. 
One of these made a broad platform terrace of the high ground, and a kind of Colt's Dyke 
causeway for a drive round the low ground on the river, and was drawn so handsomely 
that we were likely to be taken by it. Happily, it was to be immensely expensive, and I was 
able to get it rejected, promising, if I might put the city engineer at work, to furnish a plan 
that would cost not more than twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Marsh, the engineer, did not 
profess to be an artist, though it is much to his credit in this line that he suggested and 
built the low, stepping-stone, cascade dam, which is a very picturesque and pretty orna- 
ment. The plan was drawn by him as promised, accepted, and the following year executed, 
under the supervision of Alderman Jewett. By no fault either of Mr. Marsh or Mr. 
Jewett, the look was unsatisfactory. The grading was all in a right direction, but, to save 
expense, there were too many lines and too little flow. But we had escaped what was 
much worse — a plan that made no landscape, but only an overdone scene of spasmodic arl-r 
violence rather. 

146 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

If, now, any apology is wanted for massing these particulars, it must be enough lo say, ihal 
I have done it to show how mciny things must be carefully prepared, as carefully watched, 
and persistently pushed, by the man who will get any city public into and through a great 
public improvement of this kind. Weaned, and worried, and hindered, he must never 
sleep, never be beaten, never desist, and if, by a whole five years of toil, he gets his work 
on far enough to become an interest in ilself, and take care of itself, he does well, and 
there may rest. 

The Common Council put the Park now m charge, very wisely, of five Park Com- 
missioners, one to be chosen every year ; and they have had for chairman, George Beach, 
the late William L. Collins, and Joseph L. Howard, Esquires, calling to their aid Mr. J. 



a 




Northi front of State Capitol. 

Wiedenman, a very competent landscape artist cind draughtsman, and beginning the work 
anew. Under these gentlemen, the Park has been drawing gradually, as means could be 
obtained, toward completion. They have expended a great deal of time and labor on the 
work, without compensation, save as their own graceful lines and fresh colors have been 
smiling upon them, and the citizens have been learning to greet them as benefactors. 

Meantime, the Council, at their instigation, have enlarged the original ground, by taking 
possession of buildings and lots on the north and east sides of the river, to cleai away 
the nuisance of so many filthy rears, and form a street and green-slope bauik facing Park-ward 
on that side; an addition that was contemplated from the first, but which, to reduce expense, 
was not included in the original purchase. A great deal yet remains to be done, at this 
point and elsewhere, to get the properties up into a front-face look of ornament. But the 
change is going steadily on. 

147 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 

The cost of the ground originally taken was $130,000; the cost of later additions, 
$27,800; and the cost of improveinenis made footed up a total, January i, 1868, of $308,000. 
Another hundred thousand or more can be hereafter expended with real advantage. 

Much anger and severity have been, of course, encountered, and I have had my share of 
it. Shortly after the ground had been taken, it happened that the huge old grist-mill at 
one end, and the soap works at the other, were burned down; whereupon it was even charged 
upon me in apparent sincerity, by an anonymous letter, that I had set these fires to help 
my project. Now, ihe Park is universally popular — I do not know that it has an enemy. 
Millions of dollars would not buy the property. And I hear of it as being said, every 
few days, by one or anolher of the old economic gentlemen that opposed it with most 
feeling: "After all, the best inveslmenl our clt^ has ever made is the Parl(." This one 
thing is now clear to us all, that everything in the outward look of our city has been improv- 
ing since the Park was made. Our endeavors have courage in them ; for we see that we can 
have a really fine city. Indeed, the Park has already added millions to the real estate 
values of our property. 

In conclusion, I will add, that the only regret that I now have concerning it is, that 
it did not originally lake in all the southward slope on the north side of the river up to 
Pearl street. Then it would have been a complete thing; face to face with itself across 
the concave, and the waving line of the river, showing every ornament and every person 
moving on it, and displaying a scene as picturesque in its beauty as can well be imagined, 
and as nature itself provided for. Perhaps the cost would have broken down the project — 
most persons think it would. And perhaps, when the city is larger cind richer, if one or two 
very expensive emd valuable strucl"ures should be destroyed by a fire, it may yet be done. 
One thing is sure, that if (hey were burned down today — which God forbid — I would try to 
have the movement on foot tomorrow. 

Yours, with much respect, 

Horace Bushnell. 

As we look at this beautiful park today with pride and admiration, and 
think of its public benefit, its intrinsic value, its wide reputation as a splendid 
example of park-making, its central location, and that magnificent architec- 
tural work that crowns it, our matchless State Capitol, many of the words in 
the foregoing letter seem prophetic; and may we not, in the light of this won- 
derful fulfilment, when considering other great improvements which are con- 
templated at the present time, be encouraged by it to hesitate less and to go 
forward with greater confidence and enterprise in carrying out those plans 
which, when completed, shall make our city still more beautiful. And among 
those plans may be mentioned a new City Hall, and also the raising of the 
whole east side of the city above the flood line. 



148 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




149 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




Bushnell Park iq 1869. — Mulberry Street Bridge iq the fore- 
ground, — Old Trinity College Buildings and EInq Street 
in the distance. 




The 'Terrace" iq 1859, — Looking towards the old Railway 
Statioq and Asylun-i Street, 



150 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 




Old Trinity College Buildings v.hicli stood oi| ttie site of the 
present State Capitol. — About 1869. 




Another view of t ;c Bj 



151 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT. 




Biishqell Park witl"| cloud effect, 




Bushr[e!l Park showiqg Ford Street aqd Asyluni Street, 



152 



CONTENTS 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



CONTENTS 



Dedication 

Frontispiece, Explanation of 

Acknowledgments 

Introduction 

First Crossing of the Connecticut by the Settlers of Hartford 

Towns Comprising the Bridge District, with Statistics 

Crossing a Stream ..... 

First Public Highway ..... 

Bissell's Ferry ...... 

First Ferry at Hartford, over the Connecticut River . 

First Bridge over the Connecticut River (Walpole, N. H. ) 

First Bridge over the Connecticut River in Connecticut (Enfield) 

First Bridge over the Connecticut River at Hartford (1810) 

Second Bridge over the Connecticut River at Hartford (1818) 

Description of Hartford in 1 8 1 9 

Businesses along the River Front in 1825 

Unlawful Re-establishment of East Hartford Ferry in 1 836 

Colt Ferry 

Freeing of the Bridge 

Appointment of Bridge Commission 

Burning of the Bridge 

In Memoriam 

Original Stockholders of the Hartford Bridge Company 

Presidents of the Hartford Bridge Company . 

Toll Collectors of the Hartford Bridge Company 

Holders of Stock when the Bridge was made Free . 

City Government in 1 8 1 8 

Oldest Public Institutions now existing 

Oldest Businesses now existing . 

Temporary Bridges 

Floods, .... 

New Stone Bridge 
Contractors Who Built the Bridge 
Laying the Cornerstone . 
Elimination of the Draw 



4. 



0, 



50. 



Page 

iii 

V 

vii 
ix 

X 

XV 

I 

4 
6 
5 
9 
9 
II 
17 
21 
39 
48 
49 
50 
65 
52 
54 
56 
56 
56 
57 
58 
59 
59 
61 
63 
65 
71 
71 
71 



155 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



Awarding the Contract . 

Description of Construction 

Pneumatic Work 

Approaches 

Dimensions, etc. . 

Casuahies 

References (to the" various legal acts concerning the new bridge) 

Changes along the River Front 

East Side Flood Protection 

Other Bridges and Ferries across the Connecticut River in Cc 

necticut 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches 
The Old Charter and the Oak Tree in which it was hidden 
The Beginnings of Bushnell Park .... 



Page 

71 

72 



83 
86 
87 
89 
91 
93 

95 
103 

38 
141 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



Page 



Thomas Martin . 












104 


William Franklin Henney 












107 


Morgan Gardner Bulkeley 












109 


Lewis Sperry 












113 


James Woodbridge Cheney 












115 


Meigs H. Whaples, 












117 


Frank Chester Sumner 












119 


John G. Root 












121 


Charles W. Roberts . 












123 


Alembert O. Crosby 












125 


Edwin Dwight Graves . 












127 


John Thomas Henderson 












129 


Edward Wallace Bush . 












131 


Edward Williams Hooker 












133 


Alfred P. Boiler 












134 


Edmund M. Wheelwright 












135 



156 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICU f 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The New Stone Bridge in Colors 
New Bridge and Boulevard 
Oldest House in South Windsor 

Glastonbury 
Old Talcott House in Glastonbury 
Oldest House in Windsor 

Wethersfield 
Central Row in 1825 
New Freight Depots 
Primitive Bridges 
City Seal . . 

State Capitols in Hartford since 1 720 
Old City Hall .... 

Site of Hartford as it appeared in 1635 

Old State House (City Hall) Green 

Old City Seal 

Bissell's Ferry 

Exchange Corner in 1841 

River Front in I 84 1 

Enfield Bridge 

Old Covered Toll Bridge, showing horse car emerging 

First Bridge ever built across the Connecticut River at Hartford 

Old Ferry Boat "F. C. Fowler" 

Original Certificate of Stock in the Hartford Bridge Company 

New Haven and Hartford Mail Stage in 1825 

Map of Hartford about 1 800 

Diagram of Main Street in 1 783 

Old Covered Toll Bridge 

Interior of same 

Views of Morgan Street . . . . 19, 28, 

Comparative views of Old Toll Bridge and New Stone Bridge . 
Views of Front Street north of Morgan Street . . 21, 

Views of River Front . . . 8, I 1 , 24, 

Views of Commerce Street . . . . 25, 39, 43, 

Views of State Street ....... 

Post Office Building ....... 



Page 

Frontispiece 

viii 

ix 

X 

xi 
xii 
xiii 

xiv 

XV 

xvi 
I 
1 

2 
3 

4, 5 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17, 54 

18 

40, 49. 51 

20 
22, 23, 48 

41, 55, 90 
44, 45, 47 

26. 45 
11 



157 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 



Ancient Burying Ground 

Founders and Settlers Monument 

City Hall (Old State House) . 

Center Church 

American Asylum for the Deaf 

Main Street (south of Asylum Street) in 1850 

Winter scene of the Old Covered Bridge 

The Old Hartford Bank .... 

Steamboat Dock ..... 

Old Covered Bridge Showing Trolley Car 

Old Freight House" ..... 

"First Principles" of the Stone Arch . 

"The Old Yellow Block." or Pallotti Building . 

First Photograph of the Old Covered Bridge (very old) 

Burning of the Old Covered Bridge . 

Rums of the same ..... 

Diagram of River Front Improvements 

Trinity College ...... 

Temporary Bridges ..... 

Great Flood of 1854 

Corner of State Street and Commerce Street Under Flood 

Bird's-eye View of the New Stone Bridge 

Views of the New Stone Bridge .... 20, 24, 

Views Showing Process and Progress of Construction of the New 
Stone Bridge ....... 

66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72. 73, 74, 75, 77. 78. 79. 
Laying the Cornerstone 
Flower Street Bridge .... 

Laborers at Work Under the Bed of the River 

"Dry" Bridge on the Eastern Causeway 

Approaches ........ 83. 

Setting the Last Stone 

Stone Arch Bridge on Asylum Street 

Dayton Island 

"On the Connecticut" 

Hamilton Street Bridge, 

Thompsonville Bridge and Ferry 

Warehouse Point Suspension Bridge and Ferry 

Railroad Bridge at Warehouse Point . 



Page 
29 

30. 31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
42 
43 
46 
49 
50 
52 
53 
55 
59 
60 
62 
63 
64 

64, 65 



80. 82 
70 
76 

80. 82 
83 

85, 87 
84 
88 
92 
93 
94 
96 
97 
98 



158 



CROSSING THE CONNECTICUT 















Page 


Ferry Between Lyme and Saybrook ..... 98 


Railroad and Highway Bridges at Middletovvn 






99 


Railroad Bridges at Saybrook (old and new) 






99 


Ferry between Middle Haddam and Maromas 






100 


Hadlyme and Chester 






100 


Glastonbury and Rocky Hill 






101 


Old Ferry at Higganum 






101 


The Ferry of Life. — "From Shore to Shore" 






102 


The Old Charter and Charter Oak, facing . 






137 


New State Library .... 






138 


Old State Coat-of-Arms 










139 


Home of a Colonist 










140 


Scenes of Bushnell Park 










141. 152 


Corning Fountain 










142, 149 


Bushnell Park in Winter 










145 


North Front of State Capitol 










147 


Early Scenes of Bushnell Park (two views) . 






150 


Old Trinity College Buildings . 






151 


PORTRAITS 


Page 


Rollin S. Woodruff, Governor of Connecticut ... vi 


Thomas Martin ..... 






104 


William Franklin Henney 












106 


Morgan Gardner Bulkeley 












108 


Lewis Sperry 












113 


James Woodbridge Cheney 












115 


Meigs H. Whaples, . 












117 


Frank Chester Sumner 












119 


John G. Root 












121 


Charles W. Roberts . 












123 


Alembert O. Crosby 












125 


Edwin Dwight Graves . 












126 


John Thomas Henderson 












129 


Edward Wallace Bush . 












131 


Edward Williams Hooker 












132 


Alfred P. Boiler, 












134 


Edmund M. Wheelwright 












135 


Rev. Horace Bushnell . 












144 



159 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





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